Acute Care and Rehabilitation

Acute care at a hospital – usually a designated trauma center with facilities and personnel qualified to treat victims of major accidents – includes surgery for stabilizing the spine and treatment of other injuries. The patient may be admitted to an intensive care unit for specialized care during this hospital stay. Once the patient is medically stable, physicians can begin to prescribe a limited amount of physical and occupational therapy.

Patients generally are transferred from acute hospitalization to a rehabilitation unit for acute rehabilitation after one to three weeks; the length of time in the hospital depends on the severity of the injury and any other injuries the patient may have. Patients must be able to handle at least three hours of rehabilitation therapy daily in order to participate in acute rehabilitation. Those patients who cannot handle the intense therapy may be transferred to a skilled rehabilitation center as a transitional step.

The patient’s physicians during the acute care hospitalization ensure the patient’s health is stable before transferring to acute rehabilitation. Upon entering the rehabilitation unit, the biggest change the patient encounters is that the focus is no longer on medical management but rather on restoring function. Function refers to learning and relearning the necessary skills needed to perform daily life activities; the patient also learns how to accommodate and compensate for the physical abilities lost because of the injury.

An integrated patient care team works collaboratively to address specific issues to help patients move toward rehabilitation goals.