The importance of the specialist nurse in the Rehabilitation Sector and their essential role as a member of the Rehabilitation Team was emphasized by the nurses of the ANAPLASI Medical Rehabilitation Center, during the presentation of a scientific paper, at the Panhellenic Nurses’ Congress. The subject of the study was the three-year experience of nurses as members of the ANAPLASI Trans-Disciplinary Rehabilitation Team, in the field of Inpatient Rehabilitation Treatment.
” The clinical nurse prioritizes the patient’s recovery. The rehabilitation nurse prioritizes the patient’s retraining and reintegration “, the nursing staff of Anaplasi emphasizes. It emerges from this study that ” The Rehabilitation Team, where it exists in the classic, ( physio)physician-centered model, consists of a physiatrist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, etc., with individual and fragmentary exchange of information between individual members of the Team regarding the patient’s condition. The Trans-Disciplinary Rehabilitation Team of ANAPLASI, which innovates by implementing the patient-centered model, with the uninterrupted and multi-directional flow of information, integrates the nurse into this team as an equal and irreplaceable member, having confirmed that nursing care contributes significantly to the working of the Rehabilitation Team “.
A Holistic Approach – with Total Care – and Total Quality in ANAPLASI
According to this study, the ANAPLASI Rehabilitation nurse plays a dual role.
As a separate specialty, they have expertise in the personal care of patients with physical disabilities. Their responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
- Bladder training with clamp control aimed at maximum independence (intermittent catheterization training).
- Implementation of therapeutic protocols on robotic beds to prevent infections, avoid pressure injuries, and prevent deep vein thrombosis.
- Use of special aids (e.g., feeding, dressing, undressing).
- Application of special orthopedic corsets.
- Pressure injury care.
- Administration of medication.
Concurrently, as a member of the Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Team, the nurse
- Collects and communicates information appropriate
- Makes a nursing assessment
- Intervenes therapeutically, depending on level of knowledge and experience
- Assesses the patient’s general health
- Helps in determining short-term and long-term goals.
The ANAPLASI operating model
As stated by the study, ” In addition to the unique organization of the Nursing Service in ANAPLASI, specific emphasis is placed on the daily care and personal contact of the nursing staff with patients having neurological, orthopedic, rheumatological and other conditions, as well as on the special personal relationships that develop between them, resulting from the long period of hospitalization in patients requiring rehabilitation services. These relationships, characterised by affection, respect and solidarity, in turn develop between patients, relatives, nurses and other members of the team and contribute to the fullest possible family, professional and social reintegration of patients, confirming once again the overall superiority of the patient-centered model that has been pioneered, at ANAPLASI for the last sixteen years.”
