New to Rehab- Advice??

[vanurse1022, BSN]

Hi everyone!

So, a little background on me: I've been a nurse for 10 years. Most of my experience has been with med-surg, but I've had some primary care, LTC, hospice and ICU step-down experience as well. Let me also say that 9 years of my experience has been with the VA (ie, I've been charting on the same platform for the past 9 years!). I'm starting a PRN rehab job soon with a private hospital.

That being said, I'd like some advice! Having had no previous experience with FIM scores and other rehab specific items (therapy, charting, etc.), am I crazy?! Getting used to their charting is difficult enough (they use Ace-It for those of you who are familiar), and I'm only going to get 3 days of orientation on the floor. Needless to say, I'm a little nervous! Any tips and tricks would be appreciated! :)

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

ACE-IT? It sounds as if you obtained a position at a HealthSouth Rehab Hospital. Here's a piece I wrote on FIM scoring a while ago:

https://allnurses.com/rehabilitation-nursing/rehabilitation-nursing-functional-918788.html

If you will work days, pre-medicate the patients for pain before they are taken off to the therapy gyms. If not, the therapists will be calling you multiple times during the shift with requests for pain meds, thereby sucking up valuable time.

If you will work nights, pre-medicate the patients for pain during the night med pass. If not, they'll be ringing their call lights all night with requests for pain meds.

Obviously, due to the disease processes, surgical procedures and intensity of the therapies, pain is a major issue in the rehab setting.