IMPROVING STROKE CARE THROUGH ACTION RESEARCH

Stroke accounts for similar to 20% of beds occupied on general medical wards yet nurses felt inadequately prepared to participate fully in t he interdisciplinary approach to stroke rehabilitation. An action rese arch project was established to improve stroke care and rehabilitation in a general medical ward. Results indicate a correlation between kno wledge and attitudes: the greater the nurse's understanding the more p ositive the nurse is towards nursing involvement in rehabilitation. It was concluded that nurses have a vital part to play in the rehabilita tion of stroke patients and that their contribution can be enhanced th rough greater understanding. Further research is needed to determine t he effects of greater nursing involvement in terms of quality of patie nt recovery and length of patient stay.