Nurses' role in care home rehabilitation

Increasing numbers of older people are living in long-term residential care. Due to their often complex physical and medical conditions, there is a need for nursing rehabilitation to improve or maintain their functional status.

The aim of this study was to explore nurses' perceptions of their role in the rehabilitation of older people in long-term care residences.

Ten nurses working in two long-term care residences participated in this qualitative descriptive design study. Data was collected through semistructured interviews and its thematic content was then analysed.

The nurses considered their roles in caring and promoting enablement and independence to be important, but reported that time constraints and the physical and cognitive limitations in older people made the successful implementation of rehabilitation more difficult. They were positive about multidisciplinary collaboration and reported that multiple skills were needed in rehabilitation nursing, expressing a need for further education and training. They were aware of the need for a sense of homeliness to exist in long-term residences and welcomed working with families to achieve this.

Rehabilitation nursing of older people in long-term residences focuses on caring and enablement. Participants acknowledged challenges relating to age and infirmities but considered multidisciplinary collaboration, homeliness and families to be important to successful rehabilitation nursing.