Rehabilitation nursing is a philosophy of care that can be practiced in every setting. You are probably familiar with cardiac rehab or the rehab that follows after a stroke or a spinal cord injury. For those particular patients, rehabilitation is practiced in a setting. On a larger scale, rehabilitation is a philosophy of providing care that promotes clients reaching their
maximum level of wellness. Don’t we assume that all nursing specialties do that? They all do to some extent, of course. What makes rehab nursing unique is that it uses the full gamut of specialty care providers, with each member of the rehab team just as important as any other. A typical rehab team consists of the client, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, a dietitian, a pharmacist, a physician, a nurse, a social worker, and perhaps a chaplain. They all work together to coordinate the care of that client – it’s truly a team approach to
care. In rehab, we talk about interdisciplinary care, as opposed to multi-disciplinary care. The latter implies that there are several disciplines working with a client, but not necessarily in a coordinated manner. Rehab nursing is listening to the patient and deciphering what his or her goals are. For example, many years ago I cared for an older patient who had suffered a stroke. The team focused on getting her speech back, but when we sat down and really talked with her, she was more concerned about her incontinence. If she was
incontinent, she could not go out in public and resume her social activities. While speech was important, continence was her priority and meeting that need facilitated her recovery. By Pamela Larsen, 2008 http://www.nsna.org/Portals/0/Skins/NSNA/pdf/Imprint_Jan08_Feat_Rehab.pdf
