Rehabilitation Nurse: "The power in taking care of people is remembering that diseases/complications/illnesses affect people very differently."

A rehabilitation nurse is a nursing professional that helps patients suffering from disabling injuries or illnesses live relatively normal and independent lives. Rehabilitation nursing professionals help the patients to recognize their abilities and limitations in order to reach their full potential. Rehabilitation nurses are must be extremely supportive and encouraging. They often help patients to feel empowered and by giving them hope, they can help their patients to extent ostensibly impossible goals. Working as a rehabilitation nurse is one of the most rewarding nursing careers. As a rehabilitation nurse you will frequently get to witness patients to impulse past their own limits and overcome exceptional odds. Because Rehabilitation Nurses will typically work with the same patients on a regular basis, they will also get the chance to establish relationships with patients and their loved ones. Rehabilitation Nurses are not only a caregiver, they will also often be perceived as a friend and source of support during tough times. Rehabilitation nurses help chronically injured patients reach their full potential by following plans of care instilled by physical therapist, neurologist, speech therapists, psychologist and other specialist. The goal of rehabilitation nurses is to help patients become independent by reaching small-term as well as long-term goals.

General Responsibilities of the Rehabilitation Nurse

·         Rehabilitation Nurses possesses the specialized knowledge and clinical skills necessary to provide care for people with physical disability and chronic illness

·         Coordinates educational activities and uses appropriate resources to develop and implement an individualized teaching and discharge plan with clients and their families

·         Performs hands-on nursing care by utilizing the nursing process to achieve quality outcomes for clients

·         Provides direction and supervision of ancillary nursing personnel, demonstrates professional judgment, uses problem solving techniques and time-management principles, and delegates appropriately

·         Coordinates nursing care activities in collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary rehabilitation team to facilitate achievement of overall goals

·         Coordinates a holistic approach to meeting patient's medical, vocational, educational, and environmental needs

·         Demonstrates effective oral and written communication skills to develop a rapport with clients, their families, and health team members and to ensure the fulfilment of requirements for legal documentation and reimbursement

·         Acts as a resource and a role model for nursing staff and students and participates in activities such as nursing committees and professional organizations that promote the improvement of nursing care and the advancement of professional rehabilitation nursing

·         Encourages others to become CRRN certified, obtain advance degrees, participate on committees, and/or join professional organizations

·         Facilitates community education regarding acceptance of people with disabilities

Rehabilitation Nurses can treat:

·         Amputation

·         Brain injury

·         Burns

·         ALS

·         Cancer

·         Cardiovascular

·         Cerebral palsey

·         Guillain-Barre syndrome

·         Parkinson's disease

·         Major joint replacements

·         Multiple sclerosis

·         Organ transplant

·         Pulmonary disease

·         Spinal cord injury

·         Stroke

Types of Rehabilitation Nursing Careers:

• Neurological: Registered nurses who work as a neurological rehabilitation nurse care for patients who've experience injuries of the nervous system. This includes patients who’ve experienced infections such as meningitis or encephalitis. They also care for patients who experience frequent headaches, seizures, neuralgia and other problems concerning the nervous system. Neurological rehabilitation nurse may work in specialty clinics, skilled nursing care facilities or on neurological units in hospitals.

• Drug and Alcohol: A drug and alcohol rehabilitation nurse help and support patients who have addiction problems change their lives. They teach them positive ways to stay sober to prevent relapsing. Drug rehabilitation nurses monitor patients who are going through withdrawal and teach patients coping skills needed to succeed in life. This nurse may work in rehab clinics, in a doctor’s office or in a hospital drug rehabilitation unit.

• Orthopaedic: Orthopaedic rehabilitation nurses must become expert in caring for patients who are in casts as a result of fractures. They monitor their neurologic status and monitor therapies such as continuous motion therapy (CMT). Hip fractures are very prevalent in the United States with the elderly population and account for many patients on an orthopaedic rehabilitation unit. Orthopaedic nurses work in rehab units in a hospital, skilled nursing and long-term care facilities.

Rehab Nurses Play Many Roles:

·         Administrator

·         Clinical nurse leader

·         Clinical nurse specialist

·         Consultant

·         Nurse practitioner

Rehab Nurses Practice across the Post-Acute Care Continuum:

·         Community hospitals

·         Freestanding rehabilitation facilities

·         Home health agencies

·         Hospitals (inpatient & outpatient rehab units)

·         Insurance and HMOs

·         Long-term acute care

·         Private practice

·         Skilled nursing with rehabilitation

·         Sub-acute facilities

·         Universities and teaching hospitals

Objectives of Rehabilitation Nursing

There are 4 broad objectives of rehabilitation nursing:

·         a. To restore affected abilities to the highest possible level of function.

·         b. To prevent further disability/ handicap.

·         c. To protect the person abilities.

·         d. To assist the person / patient to use his or her abilities

Principles of Rehabilitation:

·         Rehabilitation should begin during the initial contact with the patient.

·         Restoring the patient to independent or to regain his pre-illness/pre-disability level of function in as short a time as possible

·         Maximising independence within the limits of the disability.

·         He must be an active participant.