Orthopaedic rehabilitation : a study of nurses' perception of their role in the rehabilitation of the orthopaedic patient

Abstract

This study was undertaken to explore nurse's perceptions of their role in the rehabilitation of the orthopaedic patient. The study took place on the three orthopaedic wards in St Luke's Hospital namely, the female, male and mixed orthopaedic wards. The researcher made use of a questionnaire that was distributed to fourteen Maltese registered nurses working presently in orthopaedic wards. The researcher had a 100°/o response rate. Nurses were asked for their perceptions of the rehabilitation process, of their role in this process and of the involvement of a multidisciplinary team approach to rehabilitation. From the findings was evident that 86% of the Maltese registered nurses believe that rehabilitation should start on admission. They have different opinions about the role of the nurse in the rehabilitation process. However 50% mentioned the co-ordinating role of the nurse as pivotal for the functioning of the multidisciplinary team. In addition 100°/o believed in the importance of including other members of the multidisciplinary team and the most frequently mentioned were: physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social worker. Also this study revealed that the majority thought that there is very little time for patient education and 71°/o agreed' that resources for patient education were available on the ward. The study revealed the need for further research on the area.