Rehabilitation nursing approaches to cerebrovascular accident: a comparison of two approaches

The purpose of this study was to compare patients receiving neurodevelopmental therapy (NDT) to patients receiving a traditional approach. The study took place on two separate medical rehabilitation units, each using just one approach. Patients were assigned to each unit based upon bed availability. The charts of 43 cerebral vascular accident (CVA) patients who received the traditional approach and of 37 CVA patients who received NDT were audited for demographic, functional, and disposition data. No significant differences at admission were found between the two groups, except that the NDT group had higher scores in dressing (p = .04) and toileting (p = .02). At discharge, the NDT group had higher functioning scores on toileting only (p = .03). Length of stay was almost identical between the two groups. Eighty-six percent of the NDT sample were discharged home compared to 78% of the traditional sample, but this was not statistically significant. Thus, the NDT approach does not appear to be superior to the traditional approach. These results imply that there needs to be more careful study of rehabilitation approaches before committing to one specific approach in the nursing care of CVA patients.