September/October Trending Topics

If you are an ARN member or a Rehabilitation Nursing Journal (RNJ) subscriber, you should soon receive your September/October issue in the mail. Check out a preview of three great articles that will be gracing the pages of this issue, or visit the journal online to read the full issue.

Graphic Representation of Hourly Activity Counts May Identify Discharge Outcomes for Older Adults After Critical Illness
Hospitalization for older adults often leave people with weakness, poor mobility and debility. This is particularly true of older adults who have been on mechanical ventilation and had a significant stay in the ICU. This study explored the relationships between early post-ICU activity counts and discharge disposition in a sample of hospitalized older adults. All patients had been independent prior to hospitalization. An actigraph was placed on each participant's dominant arm that generated activity counts. This study suggests that low activity counts are associated with discharge to a facility versus discharge to home. Read the article for more information >

Grief and Loss Among Veterans With Spinal Cord Injury: A Qualitative Study
Individuals living with SCI face considerable psychological stressors. Veterans with SCI may have additional stressors such as posttraumatic stress disorder because of military experiences and combat that may intensify or exaggerate the grief experience. Semi-structured interviews were used to identify the grief and loss experience of 15 veterans with SCI. Participants described seven phases of grief post-SCI as well as coping strategies they have used.
Read the article for more information >

Supported Communication Video Training for the Nursing Department in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospital
People with aphasia can have significant communication challenges when interacting with care providers. Not all care providers have experience working with such patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an online educational video designed to improve the knowledge and confidence of newly hired nurses and nursing assistants who would be caring for persons with aphasia. Read the article for more information >