[Therapeutic Nursing in Neurological (Early-)Rehabilitation: A Grounded Theory Study].

Purpose: What is therapeutic nursing? This question is gaining relevance in the context of the billing of services in the DRG system (DRG=Diagnosis-Related Groups), because in paragraph 8-552 of the operations and procedures coding system (OPS), it is explicitly stated that therapeutic care must be carried out by specially trained personnel. To date, empirical results on therapeutic nursing in neurological early rehabilitation are sparse. The objective of the study is to develop a theory of therapeutic care in neurological early rehabilitation.
Materials and Methods: The study is based on the method of grounded theory. Open participatory observations (n=92) and episodic interviews (n=10) with nursing professionals and nursing auxiliaries were conducted in 5 inpatient rehabilitation clinics.
Results: The theory of therapeutic nursing includes 6 categories: (1) nursing care, (2) observation/perception, (3) communication, (4) autonomy and individual needs of patients and their relatives, (5) multi-professional team and (6) prerequisites.
Discussion: The results indicate which aspects are included in therapeutic nursing and the necessary prerequisites for delivering therapeutic nursing. Against this background, continuing education programs reveal conspicuous gaps in the area of knowledge transfer and application in practice.
Conclusions: The results of the study should be taken into consideration and integrated in nursing education, both at the basic level and in continuing education.
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