Fundamentals · chapter 22 · Activity
Importance of Activity, Movement, and Alignment
The 14 things this section of the textbook says that you are most likely to be asked about — quoted word for word, not retold. Then 4 practice questions with the reasoning.
Key points
Systems required for movement
The physiology of activity, movement, and alignment is a complex process requiring multiple body systems to work together. For example, wiggling your fingers is a simple movement that requires the combined efforts of joints, bones, muscles, and the nervous system.
Skeletal system functions
The skeletal system consists of bones, joints, and other structures that allow for movement and perform other critical functions in the human body. It supports the body, shields organs, makes blood cells, and provides space for minerals and fat.
Joint cartilage function
Bone surfaces come into contact at a joint, often allowing for movement. At the joints, bones are separated by cartilage, a spongy, smooth surface that decreases friction and acts as a shock absorber between bones.
Tendons and movement impairment
A tendon is a tough, flexible band of connective tissue that attaches muscles to bones, facilitating the transmission of muscle contractions and allowing for joint movement. Injury to bones, joints, cartilage, ligaments, or tendons can make movement painful or even impair the body’s ability to move altogether.
Synovial joint lubrication
Synovial joints are the most common joints in the body; they are movable and characterized by a fluid-filled cavity in the space where bones articulate. This fluid, called synovial fluid, allows bones to move against each other freely without causing pain or eroding from the friction.
Skeletal muscle purpose
In contrast, skeletal muscle attaches to bone and creates intentional movement as it contracts and relaxes. Skeletal muscles allow the human body to resist the force of gravity and help keep the skeletal system stable.
Muscle disuse atrophy
Conversely, when muscles are worked less or not at all, they begin to atrophy, or shrink, losing both size and strength.
Antagonists and alignment
Antagonists have two functions: they maintain the body’s alignment by keeping joints at their “normal” angle, and they return the body to its proper alignment when the work of the prime mover is completed.
Nervous system control
The nervous system is the human body’s computer hard drive. It controls most of the body—both voluntary and involuntary processes—through communication that happens (via nerves) between portions of the brain and specific organs.
Spinal nerve signaling
Each spinal nerve receives information (for example, feelings of pain or hunger) through sensory neurons and sends information (for example, instructions to move or breathe) through motor neurons. The location where a motor neuron meets a muscle fiber is called a neuromuscular junction (NMJ).
Physical inactivity risk
Lack of physical activity is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular health as well as the health of many other body systems; it accounts for almost 75 percent of the healthcare costs in the United States.
Activity and cardiovascular health
Regular physical activity promotes a healthy heart. For adults, there is strong evidence that activity helps to improve blood flow and levels of good cholesterol in the body (American Heart Association [AHA], 2017).
Balance and injury prevention
Balance is critically important to preventing injury, particularly in older adults. Many conditions and symptoms can cause balance difficulties.
Least stressful posture
Correct posture is the position that applies the least stress on each joint.
Terms to know
- activity
- Purposeful movement, or activity refers to walking, eating, or playing an instrument.
- alignment
- To safely perform an activity, the body must be in proper position, or alignment.
- bone
- The primary component of the skeletal system is bone, which is a hard tissue composed primarily of calcium, with other minerals such as magnesium, fluoride, and sulfates mixed in.
- neuromuscular junction (NMJ)
- The location where a motor neuron meets a muscle fiber is called a neuromuscular junction (NMJ).
- circulation
- The continuous, controlled movement of blood throughout the body is called circulation and is facilitated by the heart, blood vessels, and blood.
- balance
- Postural stability or equilibrium, or balance is the ability to maintain an alignment that prevents an individual from falling and allows them to catch themselves if they trip.
- coordination
- While balance is the ability to maintain a position, coordination is the ability to change position effectively and intentionally.
- posture
- The key to alignment is posture; it is how an individual holds their body.
Practice questions
Stuck on select-all-that-apply? How to take them one option at a time.
The graded version needs JavaScript. Every question is below anyway, with the answer and why.
Every question here, with the answer
An older adult patient has new difficulty controlling one side of the body after a stroke and tries to get out of bed without assistance. Which nursing action is the priority?
- Focus teaching only on improving cholesterol through exercise.
- Place the call light within reach and use fall-prevention precautions before activity.
- Keep the patient on bed rest because activity is unsafe for anyone with balance problems.
- Encourage the patient to ambulate independently to rebuild confidence.
Answer: Place the call light within reach and use fall-prevention precautions before activity.
A stroke can impair balance, and fall prevention is a core safety priority for nurses. Keeping the call light in reach and using precautions addresses the immediate risk of falling; the other options either increase risk, over-restrict activity, or focus on a nonpriority issue.
A nurse is teaching a sedentary adult patient about how regular physical activity supports circulation. Which statements should the nurse include? Select all that apply.
- Regular physical activity decreases the risks of hypertension and early death from heart disease.
- Regular physical activity can improve levels of good cholesterol in the body.
- Regular physical activity makes smooth muscle movement voluntary.
- Regular physical activity can lower blood pressure.
- Regular physical activity can improve blood flow.
Answer: Regular physical activity decreases the risks of hypertension and early death from heart disease., Regular physical activity can improve levels of good cholesterol in the body., Regular physical activity can lower blood pressure., Regular physical activity can improve blood flow.
The section states that activity improves blood flow and good cholesterol, lowers blood pressure, and decreases risks of hypertension and early death from heart disease. Smooth muscle movement is described as unconscious and almost totally outside individual control, so activity does not make it voluntary.
A hospitalized patient has been moving very little and asks why the nurse keeps encouraging safe activity. Which response is most accurate?
- “Muscles become stronger when they are worked less.”
- “Muscles that are not worked can shrink and lose strength.”
- “Ligaments will attach your muscles to bones if you stay active.”
- “Only cardiac muscle is affected by decreased activity.”
Answer: “Muscles that are not worked can shrink and lose strength.”
The section explains that muscles grow stronger with work and can atrophy when worked less or not at all. The other options reverse this concept or confuse muscle, ligament, and tendon functions.
A patient can sit upright without falling but has difficulty intentionally moving both hands together to answer and operate a cell phone. Which function is the nurse primarily assessing?
- Circulation
- Balance
- Static posture
- Coordination
Answer: Coordination
The patient can maintain position but has difficulty changing position effectively and intentionally with multiple muscle groups. That pattern is most consistent with impaired coordination, not balance, circulation, or posture at rest.
Where every quote comes from
Section 22.1 Importance of Activity, Movement, and Alignment of Fundamentals of Nursing by Christy Bowen, Lindsay Draper, Heather Moore, OpenStax, 2024. Read the whole section free at openstax.org.
The textbook is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. This page quotes it word for word and adds the headings, the order and the practice questions; references to the book's figures and stray spaces left by its formatting are removed. The page is shared under the same licence. Nothing here is sold.