Use of a nurse extender role in the rehabilitation setting

In an effort to meet the increasing demand for bedside caregivers, nurse extender programs have proliferated over the past 2 years throughout the country. Standards for their job descriptions, however, are as varied as the number of programs. At Braintree Hospital, a great deal of time and effort has been spent to develop a program that is managed and supervised by registered nurses and that supports the appropriate delegation of tasks that do not require the skill of a professional nurse. Merker and Burkhart (1990) supported the use of a nurse extender to enhance the delivery of patient care and suggested that nursing administrators need to assess the current environment, define a strategy for the use of nurse extenders, and then implement that strategy. They also noted that because all healthcare facilities differ, it is important that each facility design its own program to meet its individual needs.