Mobility Glossary

Active assist range-of-motion exercise: A client’s joint receiving partial assistance in movement from an outside force. (Chapter 13.2)

Active range-of-motion exercises: Movement of a joint by the individual performing the exercise. (Chapter 13.2)

Ambulation: The ability of a client to safely walk independently, with assistance from another person, or with an assistive device, such as a cane, walker, or crutches. (Chapter 13.2)

Assistive device: An object or piece of equipment designed to help a client with activities of daily living, such as a walker, cane, gait belt, or mechanical lift. (Chapter 13.2)

Bed mobility: The ability of a client to move around in bed, including moving from lying to sitting and sitting to lying. (Chapter 13.2)

Body mechanics: The coordinated effort of muscles, bones, and the nervous system to maintain balance, posture, and alignment during moving, transferring, and repositioning clients. (Chapter 13.2)

Contracture: A contracture is the lack of full passive range of motion due to joint, muscle, or soft tissue limitations. (Chapter 13.2)

Fowler’s positioning: A position where the client is supine with the head of bed placed at a 45- to 90-degree angle. The bed can be used to slightly flex the hips to help prevent the client from migrating downwards in bed. (Chapter 13.2)

Functional mobility: The ability of a person to move around in their environment, including walking, standing up from a chair, sitting down from standing, and moving around in bed. (Chapter 13.2)

Gait belt: A 2-inch-wide (5 mm) belt, with or without handles, that is fastened around a client’s waist used to ensure stability when assisting clients to stand, ambulate, or to transfer from bed to chair. (Chapter 13.2)

Lateral positioning: A position where the client lies on one side of the body with the top leg over the bottom leg. This position helps relieve pressure on the coccyx. (Chapter 13.2)

Mechanical lift: A hydraulic lift with a sling used to move clients who cannot bear weight or have a medical condition that does not allow them to stand or assist with moving. It can be a portable device or permanently attached to the ceiling. (Chapter 13.2)

Mobility: The ability of a client to change and control body position. Mobility exists on a continuum ranging from no impairment (i.e., the client can make major and frequent changes in position without assistance) to being completely immobile (i.e., the client is unable to make even slight changes in body or extremity position without assistance). (Chapter 13.2)

Orthostatic hypotension: Low blood pressure that occurs when a client changes position from lying to sitting or sitting to standing that causes symptoms of dizziness or light-headedness. Orthostatic hypotension is defined as a drop in systolic blood pressure of 20 mm Hg or more or a drop of diastolic blood pressure of 10 mm Hg or more within three minutes of sitting or standing. (Chapter 13.2)

Passive range-of-motion exercises: Movement applied to a joint solely by another person or a passive motion machine. When passive range of motion is applied, the joint of an individual receiving exercise is completely relaxed while the outside force moves the body part. (Chapter 13.2)

Prone positioning: A position where the client lies on their stomach with their head turned to the side. (Chapter 13.2)

Range-of-motion (ROM) exercises: Activities aimed to facilitate movement of specific joints and promote mobility of extremities. (Chapter 13.2)

Semi-Fowler’s positioning: A position where the head of the bed is placed at a 30- to 45-degree angle. The client’s hips may or may not be flexed. (Chapter 13.2)

Sims positioning: A position where the client is positioned halfway between the supine and prone positions with their legs flexed. (Chapter 13.2)

Sit to stand lifts: Mobility devices that assist weight-bearing clients who are unable to transition from a sitting position to a standing position by using their own strength. They are used to safely transfer clients who have some muscular strength, but not enough strength to safely change positions by themselves. Some sit to stand lifts use a mechanized lift whereas others are nonmechanized. (Chapter 13.2)

Slider board: A board (also called a transfer board) used to transfer an immobile client from one surface to another while the client is lying supine (e.g., from a stretcher to hospital bed). (Chapter 13.2)

Supine positioning: A position where the client lies flat on their back. (Chapter 13.2)

Timed Get Up and Go Test: A mobility assessment by nurses that begins by having the client stand up from an armchair, walk three yards, turn, walk back to the chair, and sit down. As the client performs these maneuvers, their posture, alignment, balance, and gait are analyzed as the client’s mobility status is assessed. (Chapter 13.2)

Transferring: The action of a client moving from one surface to another. This includes moving from a bed into a chair or moving from one chair to another. (Chapter 13.2)

Trendelenburg positioning: A position where the head of the bed is placed lower than the client’s feet. This position is used in situations such as hypotension and medical emergencies because it helps promote venous return to major organs such as the brain and heart. (Chapter 13.2)

Tripod position: A position where the client sits in a chair with their elbows on their knees or at the side of the bed with their arms resting on an overbed table. This position is often naturally assumed by clients with breathing difficulties. (Chapter 13.2)

Vertigo: A sensation of dizziness as if the room is spinning. (Chapter 13.2)