Rehab or SNF

[mecha-sorah]

I have a question. Which is more related to a med-surg unit in a hospital? A Rehab nursing home or an SNF?

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

Aren't those the same thing? I think Rehab Nursing Home and SNF (Subacute Nursing Facility or Skilled Nursing Facility) are used interchangeably. They are typically nursing facilities where patients who had a qualifying 3-day hospital stay can be admitted for further PT and OT as well as medical follow-up under a 90-day Medicare reimbursed stay. If you are asking about Acute In-patient Rehab, then that's a different setting. These are typically rehab units in acute care hospitals or free-standing Acute Rehab Hospitals that provide more intensive PT and OT (at least 3 hours a day) and Medicare is not the only insurance that reimburses the stay.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I concur with the previous poster.

Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) offer rehab services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and basic skilled nursing care.

Skilled nursing care encompasses many procedural skills one would see on a med/surg floor such as wound care, surgical staple removal, suture removal, tracheostomy care, IV therapy, urinary catheter insertion, appliance of CPM (continuous positive motion) machines, and so forth.

When I worked in SNF rehab, I saw many orthopedic patients (knee arthroplasties, hip arthroplasties) and other postsurgical patients (laminectomies, kyphoplasties, colectomies, CABGs). I also saw many medical cases (CVA, lung CA, acute coronary syndrome, pneumonia).

The common thread was that all these patients were deconditioned and required rehabilitative services to become reconditioned.

[maccheese]

If you want something closer to med surg, then you want to check more Acute Rehab Facilities. Pruitt and HealthSouth can take on pretty acute patient's.