Premium
Incongruence between nurses’ and patients’ understandings and expectations of rehabilitation
Author(s) -
Pryor Julie,
O’Connell Beverly
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02322.x
Subject(s) - rehabilitation , context (archaeology) , nursing , relevance (law) , grounded theory , qualitative research , perception , rehabilitation counseling , medicine , psychology , physical therapy , sociology , paleontology , social science , neuroscience , biology , political science , law
Aims and objectives. To explore nurses’ understandings and expectations of rehabilitation and nurses’ perceptions of patients’ understandings and expectations of rehabilitation. Background. Within the context of a broadening appreciation of the benefits of rehabilitation, interest in the nature of rehabilitation is growing. Some believe that rehabilitation services do not adequately meet the needs of patients. Others are interested in the readiness of patients to participate in rehabilitation. Design. Qualitative. Method. Grounded theory using data collected during interviews with nurses in five inpatient rehabilitation units and during observation of the nurses’ everyday practice. Findings. According to nurses working in inpatient rehabilitation units, there is a marked incongruence between nurses’ understandings and expectations of rehabilitation and what they perceive patients to understand and expect. Conclusion. Given these different understandings, an important nursing role is the education of patients about the nature of rehabilitation and how to optimise their rehabilitation. Relevance to clinical practice. Before patients are transferred to rehabilitation, the purpose and nature of rehabilitation, in particular the roles of patients and nurses, needs to be explained to them. The understandings of rehabilitation that nurses in this study possessed provide a framework for the design of education materials and orientation programmes that inform patients (and their families) about rehabilitation. In addition, reinforcement of the differences between acute care and rehabilitation will assist patients new to rehabilitation to understand the central role that they themselves can play in their recovery.