Abstract Early rehabilitation following stroke has emerged as a pivotal strategy to accelerate recovery and enhance functional outcomes in hemiplegic patients. Despite supporting evidence, the integration of structured rehabilitation protocols in critical care settings remains inconsistent, particularly in resource-limited environments. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of early rehabilitation therapy on stroke severity, cognitive function, and motor performance among hemiplegic stroke patients admitted to a critical care unit. A quasi-experimental design was employed. Fifty-two participants were recruited and evenly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a structured multimodal rehabilitation program comprising motor retraining, cognitive stimulation, and task-specific functional practice initiated within 72 h of stroke onset. The control group received standard post-stroke care. Outcomes were assessed using the NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA). After four weeks, the experimental group demonstrated significantly improved outcomes: 92.3% achieved minor stroke severity, 80.8% attained normal cognitive scores, and 46.2% exhibited only slight dyscoordination in motor tasks. Large effect sizes across all outcome measures confirmed the clinical relevance of early intervention. The findings underscore the importance of timely, interdisciplinary rehabilitation in enhancing neurological recovery after stroke. Critical care nurses play an essential role in promoting early mobilization, integrating cognitive and motor rehabilitation strategies, and adopting standardized protocols to improve functional independence and reduce long-term disability post-stroke.
Behera et al. (Wed,) studied this question.