Section 325.20708. Rehabilitative nursing care.

(1) Rehabilitative nursing care shall be provided as part of the home's nursing care program for patients. Such care shall be directed to restoring and maintaining a patient's optimum level of independence, particularly  in  terms  of activities of daily living.

(2)   A patient's care plan for purposes of rehabilitative  nursing  care shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:

(a)   An evaluation of a patient's disabilities and care needs.

(b)   An estimation of rehabilitation potential.

(c)   A program for relearning activities of daily living.

(d)     A  program   of  assistance  in   adjusting   physiologically   and psychosocially to impairments, disabilities, and utilization of prosthetic appliances and devices.

(3)   Nursing personnel in a home shall be competent and experienced  in providing, at a minimum, all of the following:

(a)   A range of motion exercises.

(b)   Positioning and body alignment.

(c)   Preventive skin care.

(d)  Transfer and ambulation training.

(e)   Bowel and bladder training.

(f)     Training in activities of daily living, including eating, dressing, personal hygiene, and toilet activities.

(4)    Rehabilitative nursing procedures and techniques shall be available, provided, and recorded in the patient's clinical record on a weekly summary basis or in accordance with a physician's orders and nursing assessment.

(5)        Necessary equipment utilized in application of rehabilitative nursing techniques and procedures shall be available in adequate supply to meet the needs  of all patients. Such equipment  shall include the following:

(a)   Bedboards, footboards, footstools.

(b)   Trochanter rolls, positioning pillows, bed cradles.

(c)   Wheelchairs, geriatric chairs, canes, crutches, slings, splints, and lifts.

(d)  Trapeze equipment.

(6)    Rehabilitative nursing policies, procedures, and techniques shall be an integral part of inservice education for nursing personnel in the home.

History: 1981 AACS.