Rehab Nursing advice please...not a real nurse?

Specialties Rehabilitation

Published

I just accepted a position on an acute rehab unit as a new grad. Now Im very excited and happy to be starting however Im feeling a bit discouraged. Im hearing from some people that nurses whom work in rehab (physical med) are not real nurses. Real nurses work in the ER,ICU and medsurg floors.. some people want to know why Im wasting time there and they are also saying I will lose all my assessment skills or so on. They also think Im just going to be passing out meds and lifting people all day. Im sure these are the same people that disagree with psych nursing as well. Ughhh I just need some advice :(

Thank you!

I just accepted a job in IP rehab and after a little time in orientation, there's no doubt in my mind that this is as "real" as anything else in the hospital. it's a specialty. Love to hear how its been after a year in acute rehab.

Specializes in LTC, AL, Corrections, Home health.

I too am in the same boat. A new grad RN, with 3 years in ltc as an LPN. A rehab hospital was the first place willing to give me a shot on the acute unit and I was thinking is the 'real' acute care experience, but after seeing the 6 page documention sheet that has to be done q shift on each patient to justify there stay in acute rehab over a skilled nursing facility, and learning about the isolation patients, dressings, wound vacs, IVs/PICCs, trachs,etc. I have no doubt it is very much real. have not started orientation yet, but I am hoping everything goes well... In fact I am now thinking the opposite: 'CAN I HANDLE THIS??'

I am really excited though as I really do not know what I want to do in general in my nursing career, but wanted something a bit more challenging than my ltc job in hopes that it will open up additional opportunities for me in the future.

Specializes in Neurology, Trauma, Urology.

Our rehab is becoming is getting residents that have more acuities than ever before. I started in hospital setting and learned neurology and inpatient trauma before coming to rehab and both have been a GREAT help for me. I am DEFINITELY a real nurse. My assessment skills are used daily and the nice thing about having residents (patients, we call residents so that feels more like home and different mindset) is that we actually have them long enough to recognize differences in them right away in order to prevent problems from progressing too far before getting treatment for them.

I am glad that I didnt start in rehab, because what I learned in the hospital setting is invaluable, but I love having my guys for weeks vs. days.

Congratulations and hope that you are enjoying your career!

hAHA -not a real nurse! oKAY First of all....other units often call our unit for help when they get old SCI patients to their units. Re autonomic dysreflexia how to transfer them, how to do a bladder scan. How to transfer difficult patients. So don't let anyone tell you different. WE DO: Spinal Cord Injuries, Traumatic Brain Injuries---many with bone flaps missing, on tube feedings, with trachs (other RNs who float to us, some of them, aren't given these trach patients because they don't know how to work with them---true story), they don't know how to hook up a tube feeding. We do amputation dressings, packing wounds, helping with fresh ostomy dressings, pressure ulcers to the bone. Oh and we do it all doing it with 7 patients each. We do IVs everyday, IV fluids everyday, TPN and lipids, WE ARE a medical floor! We just have them longer than other units! We do foleys. We have acute patients go bad too. We have codes on our floor, we have people who start to bleed out---we get it ALL. GO FOR IT!!!!

This sounds exactly like where I'm working! Plus figure in psych- anxiety, denial, grieving, attn seeking etc! But we have 20 pts max!!! How do you plan your day? I'm filling nurses who I can see have bad habits cut corners and leave 2 hrs late because if charting!!! Any ideas that you can share about prioritizing? They have a report sheet that carries over and their meds adm record also but I made one that I copy on shift and I split it into categories like wound care, iv, c/s, o2 therapy and I put the room number and name so I can have a quick reference . This is how I did it in the hospital but only for 7 not 20!!!

I would love to talk to these people who say Rehab Nursing isn't real nursing. Yeah we give out a lot of a meds (so does every nurse), but in some instances its more difficult. I work on an acute rehab floor and I know that I use my assessment skills EVERYDAY, change and stage wounds, deal with all types of social issues, insert foleys, etc. And sometimes I have to do all these things with 7-10 patients! And I don't know about your facilities, but at my facility between, 7pm-8am all the doctors are gone! So if we have a code blue or rapid response (which DOES happen) the nurses have to run the code. We obviously can't give meds, but its a challenege. So you go girl!

Hi y'all,

I have recently got a job offer from a Rehabilitation hospital as a PCT. My nursing school starts next January, so I'm required to get CNA license in order to work in a hospital (it's state law). The nurse manager of SCI called me and said she is very interested in having in her team. I have heard that being a PCT in a rehab hospital, you are required LOTS of body mechanic, lifting, standing, carrying, etc. I have weak back since I was in high school. Should I go for the job? Is it hard to find a job as PCT? I'm 5 feet 3, weight 123lbs ... I'm afraid my physical is gonna hold me down for the job. please help!!!

I want to know what these people think "real nursing" is... this is crazy. Nursing encompases many different arenas.... just because you're not in an ER or ICU does not mean you're not a nurse. They are showing their ignorance.

"Real" nurses went to nursing school, sat for a state board exam, got a nursing license, and work in the field. That's it. If you don't like your place in life, change it..but don't let others determine your worth and value.

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