FIM scoring survey

[TRFunguy, RN]

Hello readers of this forum. Will you please respond to this question: for those of you working in Acute Rehab Facilities (IRFs), how are you involved in documenting FIM scores and by what method did you learned to assess FIM scores?

[LuvRehab]

I work on an inpatient rehab unit in a suburban hospital. We complete a FIM form for each patient every shift. We were trained by our FIM Coordinator. We have to take a refresher and be retested about once a year.

[Borchey, RN, BSN]

I work in a acute inpatient rehab facility. We were also trained by the FIM coordinator every couple of years to keep things up to date. Not the funnest scoring system in the world but it does have its benefits.

[goodneighbor]

I work at an IRF and am a new RN to the unit. I was trained by our Medicare payment coordinator. The FIM is to be performed on every shift for the first three days. It is repeated prior to discharge to document improvement. It is a useful tool to show incremental goals and improvements. The method of learning was a video by IDS and interactive discussion and case scenarios.

[OldPhatMC]

Our educator ran a full day course in FIM assessment, which involved the use of standardized scenarios. There are a lot of nuances and a lot of categories to score, so I think trying to learn it on your own is a challenge regardless of your learning style.

The scores are recorded twice a day on a single sheet for the first three days of admission. It's a quick task, and apparently important enough to the billing process to have a nurse assigned to doing record checks each day. It affects our ability to get full payment for services, so as a former tax guy, I say 'Heck, yes we need to do it!'.