Nurses' perspectives of encouraging clients' care-of-self in a short-term rehabilitation unit within a long-term care facility.
This article presents a study conducted on a short-term rehabilitation unit in a long-term care facility. The purpose of the study was to explore, through qualitative methods, nurses' perspectives of encouraging clients to care for themselves. Although the literature suggested that encouraging self-care does not occur, the findings of this study showed that nurses have a broader view than what is currently known in nursing as "self-care." Potential impediments to nursing practice were overcome by the development of nurse-client relationships through which the nurses encouraged clients in what is described throughout this study as "care-of-self." Rehabilitation nurses play an important role in helping clients to integrate and reclaim the care of their emerging new selves. Care-of-self may be critical to clients not only in reaching their outcome goals for discharge but also in maintaining outcomes beyond discharge.
Singleton
J K
JK
Lienhard School of Nursing, Pace University, New York City, NY 10038, USA. jsingleton@pace.edu
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology*; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D019145:Rehabilitation Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires