A Novel Approach to Safe Patient Handling and Mobility Training in Physical Therapist Education

Abstract

Background: Safe patient handling and mobility (SPHM) training is prevalent in health care education and practice. However, there is limited evidence of this training in physical therapist education programs. Purpose: To determine if a single training session with a mobile laboratory equipped with SPHM equipment increases the knowledge of SPHM principles and techniques and is valuable to students prior to their first clinical experience. Methods: Training included a 1-hour lecture on SPHM principles, research, and techniques, followed by two 50-minute SPHM practice stations. One session was conducted using a mobile laboratory. Students completed a pretest/posttest measuring knowledge of SPHM principles. Students completed a survey regarding the perception and placement of SPHM training within the curriculum. Results: A total of 129 students in a physical therapist education program were invited to participate; 59 from first-year cohorts and 70 from second- and third-year cohorts. Eighty-seven students volunteered to participate, including all 59 students from the first-year cohorts receiving training as the experimental group, and 28 from the other cohorts receiving no training as the control group. Seventy students met the criteria for survey data analysis; 42 experimental and 28 control. Of those who received training, 90.5% reported that SPHM training improved their confidence prior to their inpatient clinical experience; 85.5% in the control group would have felt more confident being placed in an inpatient facility if they received SPHM training, and 85.7% of the experimental group and 89.3% of controls agreed that SPHM training should be performed prior to the first clinical experience. A paired t test showed that first-year students reported a statistically significant increase in knowledge of SPHM principles (P < .001). Conclusions: Physical therapist education programs should consider SPHM training prior to students’ first clinical experience to increase student confidence in inpatient settings.