Acute vs Subacute rehabilitation

Published Jul 26, 2021

19 Posts

Hi All

I am currently working on a medical surgical floor in a hospital but before that I worked in a Long Term Care Facility, considered to be subacute care. I see job postings for Inpatient rehab in hospitals and just wanted to ask a nurses who worked in a hospital in this type of department what your responsibilities are.

Currently I pass meds, do assessments, admissions, discharges, get/give report on patients going to surgeries/procedures. When I worked in the long term care facility I mostly passed meds and did wound care, and PT/OT did come to see some patients but we really weren't that involved except pain management.

For inpatient rehab nurses, what are your daily responsibilities? What do you find most challenging/frustrating about it and what are your favorite parts? When I worked in a long term care in a facility the thing I hated the most was having patients put on the facility who were unstable, some even too sick to even be out of an ICU unit. Does that happen in acute rehab? How long do patients typically stay?

Any feedback is welcome!