Settle this please...

[David Offenbaker, BSN, RN]

Hi all,

I have read many threads that contradict each other. One says rehab is a lot like medsurg, minus the constant admission/discharges. While others say rehab is nothing at all like medsurg.

I just accepted a job at Warm Spring Rehabilitation Hospital here in San Antonio, Texas. From what the DON told me during the interview, and what I saw during my tour-- it was a lot like medsurg.

I guess the main reason I am wondering is because I am going to be an RN in about a year, and am wondering if this is considered "acute care" that a lot of hospitals look for in nurses.

Thanks all!

Dave :paw:

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I've never worked on a med/surg unit, so I cannot make the comparison between the two specialties. However, rehab is usually considered long term acute care (LTAC) in my area. In other words, it is a form of acute care.

On the rehab unit where I work, we dealt with a lot of central lines, IV antibiotics, CPM machines, feeding tubes, suture removal, surgical staple removal, complicated wound care, ostomy appliances, diabetic management, casts, braces, splints, cervical halos, and so forth. Most of my patients had recently underwent surgical procedures such as laminectomies, knee and hip arthroplasties, kyphoplasties, CABGs, hysterectomies, limb amputations, colectomies, thromboembolectomies, and abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs. The non-surgical patients were admitted for recovery from CVAs, acute MIs, debility, cancer, fractures, status post pneumonia, deconditioned states, failure to thrive, status post falls, and generalized weakness.

You will bust your buns in rehab, but you will also learn so much!

[Nurseismade RN]

I've never worked on a med/surg unit, so I cannot make the comparison between the two specialties. However, rehab is usually considered long term acute care (LTAC) in my area. In other words, it is a form of acute care.

On the rehab unit where I work, we dealt with a lot of central lines, IV antibiotics, CPM machines, feeding tubes, suture removal, surgical staple removal, complicated wound care, ostomy appliances, diabetic management, casts, braces, splints, cervical halos, and so forth. Most of my patients had recently underwent surgical procedures such as laminectomies, knee and hip arthroplasties, kyphoplasties, CABGs, hysterectomies, limb amputations, colectomies, thromboembolectomies, and abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs. The non-surgical patients were admitted for recovery from CVAs, acute MIs, debility, cancer, fractures, status post pneumonia, deconditioned states, failure to thrive, status post falls, and generalized weakness.

You will bust your buns in rehab, but you will also learn so much!

Just wanted to say "ditto".... to TheCommunter's post...and to add I think it is like med-surg...but better in that you get to really know your patients as they are in the hospital longer.

just my