What do y'all think of the rehab units located inside nursing homes?
I've been working at the same facility for the past year and a half, but was involuntarily transferred to the rehab unit about 6 weeks ago. Am I the only one who thinks that nursing home rehab is dangerous?
Here's my rationale for thinking that it is risky. Geriatric rehab patients tend to be much sicker than traditional LTC patients. They usually have PICC lines, IV ABTs, complicated wound tx, CPM machines, and so forth. Virtually all of my rehab patients are recent postsurgical cases that are being admitted to us from the hospital after undergoing knee replacements, hip replacements, amputations, heart surgery, rib fractures, CVA, MI, or any number of other acute problems. I simply think it is dangerous to have 20 of these higher-acuity patients, because they require more monitoring and care than the typical geriatric nursing home patient.
30 traditional geri patients are fine by me, but 15-20 of these very sick rehab patients has been challenging...