Occupational therapy and the ICU liberation bundle

More than 5.7 million patients are admitted annually to intensive care units (ICUs) in the United States for intensive or invasive monitoring (Society of Critical Care Medicine, 2020). Upon admission, these patients are at risk for developing ICU-acquired weakness, long-term cognitive impairments, and mental health problems that comprise what is known as Post-Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS). Occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) provide skilled services that offer a positive direct impact on ICU outcomes. However, a large retrospective cohort study using data from 591 ICUs in the U.S. indicated that only 29% to 40% of patients receive occupational therapy during their ICU stay (Prohaska et al., 2019), indicating that OTPs may not be using their full potential in this setting. In one Midwest hospital, OTPs currently use the ICU Liberation Bundle to guide evidence-based evaluations and treatments leading to positive patient outcomes and demonstrating the more prominent role OTPs have within the ICU setting.