Too Smart for Rehab Nursing

meluhn · Mar 20, 2009

Lola,

You put that so well. I feel exactly the same way. People just don't get it. They think rehab=nursing home, not that nursing homes are anything to sneeze at either. I am an RN in acute rehab and I love it. I have learned more here than anywhere else I have ever worked. You are so right about it being psych nursing and cheerleading and med surg combined. We have such a diverse mix of patients between the ortho fx and surgical pts and the chronically ill and the cvas and the cardiac, esrd, oncology, mvas and all the different miscellaneous things we see. I don't know why we get such a bad rap. We work hard and are just as skilled as any other specialty area. Nurses that float to our floor say that they have never worked so hard on any other floor, and it is not just busy work. We have to be on top of things just like any other specialty area. It is a different skill set and I don't know why it is considered so low on the totem pole of nursing. Maybe because alot of subacute rehabs are located in LTC facilities which might be the one area of nursing considered lower than ours. I actually had a recruiter say to me, "Rehab isn't that impressive on a resume". I have worked med surg and It is only slightly different in that you have a different focus in rehab. Plus, in rehab everyone is dressed when you want to assess them and are always passing out when they are in the gym. We have rapid responses and codes just as often as a med-surg floor. Don't listen to those who tell you not to do rehab. It is a very positive, proactive place to be and you can learn alot. Good Luck!

StNeotser, ASN, RN · Mar 20, 2009

Hey, if you've found your fit then good luck to you. Also because our rehab unit is in a nursing home then I get "so you just work in an old folks home?" Go with your heart and not what everyone else is telling you.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2009

I started out in rehab as a new grad. It is very, very busy, and very challenging. Anyone who says it isn't doesn't know what they are talking about.

NurssNicole · Mar 20, 2009

I love working on my subacute rehab unit. There is variety to learn new things each day. The gratification that we get from the patients and their families is so different from other areas of nursing that I've worked. It is almost like nursing the way it once used to be.... :nurse:

llltapp · Mar 20, 2009

Just to give you my two cents, I think any nurse that works in a subacute rehab NEEDS to be a top-notch nurse on their game with superior assessment skills!! I have worked ER most of my career and last year helped to start a wound care program at a local subacute rehab. Let me tell ya, these patients are HIGH acuity a lot of times and you don't have any immediate support........... its on you. I've seen paramedics berate the nurses for calling 911, etc. etc. It was funny because a lot times, the nurses would use me as an "emergency consult" lol, and when the paramedics were giving the nurses grief, I would walk up and they'd SHUT up cause I trained a lot them! The thing is, you have potential emergency situations without the luxury of monitors, EKG, and other tools that ER staff do. My hat is off to the subacute rehab nurse and my prayers are with the patients who are in rehabs that don't value strong nursing skills........ because there are plenty out there who understaff and undersupport. They give the nurses 30 patients as if they are long term care patients meanwhile they have 3 day post CABG patients and 5 patients on IVABT. etc etc. Plus you have to manage the CNA's ..... arg. I'm glad I work in the ER where I can RELAX lol

luvschoolnursing, LPN · Mar 21, 2009

When I went to work at a nursing home, I was told that I was wasting my education. When I went back to med surg, I was asked why I didn't go to ER or ICU. Now that I am a school nurse, I'm told all I do is put on bandaids. :banghead: I've needed good nursing skills for all these positions. And besides, It's MY career, if I choose to wast it by putting on bandaids and taking the summer off, I guess that's up to me. :smokin:

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2009

I was discharging a patient when I was working in subacute rehab nearly 2 years ago.

The patient was smiling and gave me a big hug as she said, "You're too smart for this type of nursing. You need to be working in surgery or the ICU!"

Unfortunately, the public and the rest of the medical community ascribes ranks to the different specialties, and rehab seems to trend toward the bottom of the barrel. I think many minds would be changed if people could walk a mile in our shoes.

llltapp · Mar 28, 2009

school nurses are another under-rated group. You are the pediatrician, parent, social worker, trauma nurse, psychologist, child abuse counselor, teacher, eye doctor and DERMATOLOGIST. wow, I think I am pretty passionate about the unsung heros in our profession. It really ticks me off

zena231 · Mar 28, 2009

I've also heard people talk and act like they feel rehab is a lower order of nursing. When you hear all of the talk of how we have to promote nursing and let the world know just how important it is, etc-maybe we should also work to promote rehab nursing whenever possible. Our patients are so much more diverse than on any other floor in the hospital-because we have patients from all over the hospital. And we have to be able to take care of all of them. It's hard to get bored when you are constantly changing gears and trying to find better ways of doing things. We have all the wound dressings, wound vacs, burn dressings, LVADS, other cardiac patients, cancer patients, strokes, neuro diseases, spinal injuries, TBIs, general deconditioning, amputations, MVA patients.... When I first started in rehab my saying was that "other nurses help save patients lives, rehab nurses help patients get their lives back". Two years later and I still feel that way and am still on fire for my job. The relationships formed with our patients and their families are special. Seeing a patient able to go home, priceless.

advalRN · Mar 29, 2009

Hi Lola

I read your posting and you really sound enthusiastic to work in rehab. I worked in acute rehab for 3 years in one of the very well known centers in the US. I must say it was a really nice experience. we got patients with a lot of commorbidity and who acuity level was very high. I really feel that I learned a lot n my floor. The benefit of rehab over other units is that you really get to know your patient and family. It is an amazing feeling to see your patients improve. I also supervise in a subacute rehab facility. I must say two different ball games. If you are just graduating my advise to you is to do acute rehab.

Your questions was do you get upset to see the comments that others make about rehab? and my answer is yes. I was having a conversation with someone that told me . "You will do real nursing on med/surg". I was left wondering of what that meant. I felt offendced, I am not a real nurse? I must say as a rehab nurse you do find it hard going to another department. Pre conception and ideas of people not in rehab is that we dont do anything, I must say in rehab you are everything for the patient, nurse, social worker, psychologist and much more.

I loved and love rehab! I am doing other things now, but I will encourage you to do it if your heart is on it.

Good luck:yeah:

lpnflorida · Mar 31, 2009

I love rehab. I have been in it for 10 years now, and fully plan on to retire working it. Boring, not hardly. Never in my career nor many of the other nurses I work with are we so challenged to be proficient in working with so many different types of co-morbidities. Many of our patient come directly from ICU to us. Our patient's very much keep us on our toes. Granted we love the uncomplicated patient, but they are becoming few and far between in Acute Rehab. I agree many nurses who have floated to us. have said the patients they see on med surg are not as complicated as most of our patients. I believe complicated patient are everywhere in any facilty, those easy walking, talking patients appear to very much becoming extinct in hospitals today.