A pilot for understanding interdisciplinary teams in rehabilitation practice.

Interdisciplinary teams in rehabilitation are effective for positive patient outcomes. They require skills in team building and interprofessional collaboration. The Institute of Medicine has interdisciplinary teams as one of the five core competencies for healthcare workers. In reviewing the literature on teams, several themes were developed, such as communication, collaboration, understanding of roles, and educational levels of team members. Using these themes, a survey was developed to assess perceptions of teams by rehabilitation nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. Significant findings came from questions on educational levels of team members between nurses and occupational therapists and also within the nursing groups. Open-ended questions asked about barriers and facilitators for effective teams. We hope that these pilot results will lead to discussions on how to improve interdisciplinary teams and make them more effective for better patient outcomes.

Delegation knowledge and practice among rehabilitation nurses.

Delegation is an essential process that allows nurses to function more effectively and efficiently. The Association of Rehabilitation Nurses' (ARN) Southeast Texas Chapter research committee developed a survey to study registered nurses (RN) practices and knowledge of delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel. State boards of nursing determine delegation practices, so the survey was sent only to Texas ARN members. Benners' Novice to Expert theory was used to study delegation practices based on years of experience, certification, and education. Survey Monkey was used with a questionnaire developed by the research committee. Descriptive statistics analyzed data from the survey's 73 respondents, and chi-square measured significance of differences based on years of experience and certification (yes or no). Data show that delegation knowledge does not necessarily translate to practice, especially when looking at specific tasks performed by certified rehabilitation registered nurses (CRRNs) and non-CRRNs. The data support continued study of this important issue; 93.7% of respondents say delegation requires further discussion.

Environmental issues in patient care management: proxemics, personal space, and territoriality.

Patient privacy issues play a significant role in healthcare policy. However, concern for patient privacy may not always carry over into patient care activities. An Association of Rehabilitation Nurses chapter research committee undertook a study to assess rehabilitation nurses' knowledge of proxemics, personal space, and territoriality and their application in rehabilitation nursing practice. The theoretical framework was Hall's 1966 theory of proxemics. A pretest-posttest design with a 1-hour educational intervention was used with a convenience sample of rehabilitation nurses (N = 43). The tests consisted of 12 multiple-choice questions and 1 open-ended question related to practice. Paired-samples t tests of pretest and posttest scores demonstrated improvement in posttest scores (p <.0005). Analyses of variance were conducted to determine whether there were any differences on the posttest scores when looking at education level, years of work experience, years of work experience in rehabilitation nursing, and certification. Higher education levels correlated with higher test scores (p < .005). Although findings are limited by sample size, results indicate that rehabilitation nurses are not familiar with the impact of proxemics. The nurses'application of these principles in the open-ended question indicates that a patient's personal space in a healthcare setting is determined by the nurse, not the patient. The implications that result from a call to action on these issues are discussed.