Clinical validation of nursing diagnosis "00085 Impaired Physical Mobility" in multiple traumas victims.
Raisa Camilo Ferreira, Erika Christiane Marocco Duran
PMID 31664408WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses identified impaired physical mobility in 111 of 126 adult multiple-trauma patients.
Difficulty turning best predicted it. Altered bone structure integrity was the commonest associated condition.
Key findings
01Impaired Physical Mobility was identified in 111 of 126 adult multiple-trauma patients.
02Difficulty turning was the defining characteristic with the best accuracy, and altered bone structure integrity was the most common associated condition.
03Discomfort, altered gait, decreased gross motor skills, and decreased range of motion were often absent when the diagnosis was present.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in one hospital with 126 patients over about five months, so it may not apply to other trauma populations. The nurses who made the diagnoses were also the reference standard, and the paper says nursing diagnoses have no ideal objective reference, so the accuracy results may reflect the assessors' training. The diagnosticians were chosen by convenience, and only three nurses collected the data. Patients with previous motor or sensory deficits were excluded, so it says nothing about trauma patients who already had mobility problems. Many related factors and associated conditions were rarely recorded, so the study could not test them well.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that diagnosing impaired physical mobility improves patient recovery. The study measured how often nurses assigned the diagnosis and which signs fit it, not whether treatment changed outcomes.