Complementary and Alternative Health Practices in the Rehabilitation Nursing.

This article discusses the connection between the Theory of Integral Nursing and the use of complementary and alternative medicine to rehabilitation nursing. Complementary and alternative health practices refers to methods, practices, and modalities that are outside of the realm of biomedicine. Some of the types of treatments and practices that are considered to be alternative include folk medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy, faith healing, massage, energy healing, acupuncture and acupressure, supplements, aromatherapy, and music therapy.

Implementing the new CARF wellness standards.

Our objectives in this article are to provide background and practical applications of the implementation of the new wellness standards developed by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). The focus of rehabilitation in the stroke population ideally extends beyond maximizing functioning and prevention of further debilitation, by addressing wellness and the opportunity to create a healthy lifestyle. This concept has been recognized by CARF, which has included new wellness standards for stroke rehabilitation.

Integrative wellness in rehabilitation: social and behavioral aspects of health care and clinical applications.

Purpose: Social and clinical research has demonstrated the importance psychosocial and health behaviors contribute to both the etiology of illness conditions and the success of treatment in the rehabilitation setting. The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief review of the social and behavioral factors in illness, recovery and prevention of impairments, and to provide clinical applications of such findings.

Design/methods: The content of this paper draws on both a literature search as well as the case study of programs and strategies currently being utilized at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital located in the American Midwest.

Application of holistic nursing in the rehabilitation setting.

The purpose of this article is to present a conceptual model and graphic representation of holistic nursing to assist in its application to other subspecialty nursing practices, specifically medical rehabilitation. This article demonstrates how the components of holistic nursing are compatible and even synergistic with rehabilitation nursing principles and practice. Examples of holistic nursing components included in this article include the nurse as a healing environment, intention, self-care, and intuition.

Culturally competent care complements interactions with people with disabilities.

This article describes the concept of disability as a culture, discusses key components of cross-cultural communication with people with disabilities, and identifies the key elements of providing culturally competent care to people with disabilities. To gain an understanding of cultural competence, it is important to understand the concepts and definitions of culture, disability, and competence. The World Health Organization classification of functioning, disability, and health will be used as the theoretical model in the discussion on disability.

Nurse staffing and patient outcomes in inpatient rehabilitation settings.

In rehabilitation nursing, the patient classification systems or acuity models and nurse-staffing ratios are not supported by empirical evidence. Moreover there are no studies published characterizing nursing hours per patient day, proportion of RN staff and impact of agency nurses in inpatient rehabilitation settings. The purpose of this prospective observational study was to describe rehabilitation nurse staffing patterns, to validate the impact of rehabilitation nursing on patient outcomes, and to test whether existing patient measures on severity and outcomes in rehabilitation could be used as a proxy for burden of care to predict rehabilitation nurse staffing ceilings and daily nurse staffing requirements.

Relationship of RN role responsibilities to job satisfaction.

This study tested a delivery of care model that maximizes the role of the registered nurse in rehabilitation by providing care based on the scope of practice exclusive to the registered nurse and supplementing that practice with licensed and non-licensed support personnel. The model of care was developed as a response to the nursing shortage. The model attempts to best utilize the limited resource of registered nurse staffing.

Adapting OSHA ergonomic guidelines to the rehabilitation setting.

Nursing aides and orderlies ranked second of all occupations in the number of occupational injuries and illness involving lost days at work. The majority of these injuries in nursing are associated with moving or assisting patients and residents in healthcare settings. OSHA has developed guidelines for nursing homes in order to provide information and step-by-step procedures for nursing home employers and employees about potential ergonomic hazards and ways to reduce those hazards.