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Teresa Bennett

In-Patient Rehabilitation for Stroke Survivors – Part 1

Paul spent 1 week in the hospital and was then transferred to an in-patient rehab facility to start intensive therapy.



He was transported from the hospital in a wheelchair equipped van to the rehab facility late Monday evening. It was around 8 pm when he was transferred. Our experience that evening was not good.


Nothing horrible happened, but the nurse was disorganized, slow, and just seemed to not be “with it”. It was several hours before he was checked in and the initial review was completed and he did not receive his medications until that was complete even though I mentioned several times that we were hours late in when he should have been given them.


I was concerned about the care he would receive during his rehab stay. That nurse did not instill any confidence in the facility. Thankfully that was not the norm! The facility ended up being wonderful and his care was, for the most part, excellent.


He only had a couple of nursing assistants during his month-long stay that he felt did not treat him well and did not exhibit the correct knowledge for his care. One person pulled on his right arm to help him up and that is a big no-no. You should never pull on the paralyzed arm as the muscles are weak and you can actually separate the arm from the shoulder socket (there’s a medical term for this that I don’t remember).


For those 2 people that he had an issue with, when we reported it to his physical therapist, she made detailed notes in his chart, reported it to the head nurse, and those 2 people were not assigned to him again.


Do not be afraid to speak up if you feel your injured spouse (IS) is not receiving the care they should be getting.


Remember, he is not just a patient, he is a customer 9so are you!) and it is their job to ensure they are providing excellent service. It’s the stroke survivor and the stroke survivor’s advocates job to let the facility know if they are falling short in this area so that they have a chance to rectify the problem.


You can go here to read more about our rehab facility stay.

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