Patient Concerns After Discharge from Rehabilitation

A major nursing role in rehabilitation is patient teaching. Through education, the patient is armed with knowledge that enables him or her to reenter community life prepared to be as independent as possible. The teaching in a rehabilitation facility should be evaluated continually to assure its ability to meet patients' needs. This article describes a study in which phone calls made by patients after their discharge were assessed to determine whether knowledge deficits had prompted the calls. The results were used by the hospital nursing staff to make changes in their patient teaching.