Mobility and Transfer Safety

After working through this material you will be able to: - Screen mobility and falls risk, choose a handling method from the result, and explain why a gait belt is a steadying device and not a lifting device. - Measure orthostatic blood pressure correctly and apply the 20 mm Hg / 10 mm Hg thresholds. - Perform a bed-to-chair transfer by the method the assessment supports (stand-pivot, sit-to-stand aid, slide board, mechanical lift) and know when a manual transfer is not allowed. - Respond to a fall in progress and complete a post-fall assessment, including the escalation pathway for a head strike in a patient taking an anticoagulant. - Name the medication classes that raise fall and injury risk, and the monitoring, holding and notification steps that follow. - Recognize the complications of immobility (venous thromboembolism, pressure injury, pneumonia, contracture, deconditioning) and mobilize early to prevent them. - Decide what can be assigned to an unregulated care provider (UCP) and what the RN keeps.