Learning goals during initial rehabilitation hospitalization

While learning theory and various clinical applications play an increasingly significant role in the design and delivery of rehabilitation services, data to determine the extent that teaching/learning are integral to rehabilitation goals are lacking. Medical records of 20 first admission spinal cord injured patients were analyzed for the proportion of teaching/learning goals, plans, and activities entered by professional disciplines on the rehabilitation team. A classification system for medical chart entries was devised for this purpose. Results indicated that 65% of the total chart entries reflected teaching/learning or attempts to accelerate or decelerate specific behaviors. Across professional disciplines nursing showed the highest proportion of chart entries focused on patient teaching/learning. Present findings support recent trends toward systematic and more sophisticated application of learning theory and technology, and suggest that professional preparation of rehabilitation personnel should include training in how to teach and how to facilitate skill acquisition.