Skilled-Nursing Facilities: Negotiating the Terrain

 Skilled-Nursing Facilities: Negotiating the Terrain

Whether or not we plan to, many of us might need to spend time in a rehabilitation facility following an injury, illness, or surgery; knowing patient rights, the right questions to ask, and which staff to seek out can ease the process.

Be Prepared

Planning ahead is a great idea if you’re scheduled to have a procedure done in a hospital that requires follow-up rehab. Assistant administrator at a Santa Monica, California rehab facility, Sarah Dereniuk suggests you visit several facilities before your hospitalization to find the best fit. “The hospital discharge planner should provide you with options or your doctor might have a specific recommendation.” Visiting different facilities is the time to ask questions about their operation and services.

Entering rehab is less scary if you know what to expect. Your doctor should explain treatment and therapies that are being ordered before your discharge from the hospital. Dereniuk advises not to expect the nurse-to-patient ratio in a rehab facility that you had in the hospital. “Your nurse probably had you and three others in her care, while rehab nurses may have up to 12 patients. But you should still expect a reasonable response time if you call for assistance.”

To learn more please visit World Nursing Congress 2020

Children’s and learning disability nursing in Wales: no extra university places planned for next year

Failure to expand fields’ student cohorts at odds with government’s NHS vision, says RCN

The number of student places for children’s and learning disability nursing in Wales will remain static next year despite expansion in other nursing fields.

RCN Wales director Helen Whyley expressed her disappointment at the Welsh government's announcement there would be no increase in commissioned places.

‘There are is a desperate need for more children’s nurses on neonatal wards and in the community,’ Ms Whyley said.

Learning disability nurse workforce and a national education programme for the NHS

‘Only last week the Welsh government announced plans to embed a comprehensive national education programme for learning disability across the NHS in Wales. If this is to be successful, more learning disability nurses are needed.’

A Welsh Government spokesperson countered that training places for children’s and learning disability nursing had gone up by 18.4% in the past five years.

In contrast to children’s and learning disability nursing places for next year, the number of adult nursing places commissioned will go up by 15%, from 1,216 to 1,400. Mental health nursing places will increase by 20%, from 134 to 161.

To learn more please visit Nursing Event 2020