Patient performance level during inpatient physical rehabilitation: therapist, nurse, and patient perspectives.

A study was undertaken to contrast the perspectives among rehabilitation nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists in their ratings of patient mobility and self-care capabilities. Staff members rated every patient (n = 66) whose stay on a physical rehabilitation inpatient unit ended within a specified three-month period. Considerable divergence of views was found in all six areas rated, with nurses rating patients at admission as significantly less independent than did the therapists. This difference remained in the ratings at discharge in four of the six areas. Additionally, those patients able to be interviewed (n = 53) were surveyed as to the degree to which they saw progress (or deterioration) during their stay. Correlations between these patient ratings and change ratings by the staff were not statistically significant. The findings suggest the need for additional communication among the various disciplines, as well as between staff members and patients, to work toward a consensus view of the rehabilitation process.