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Tip of the week: Apply restorative nursing to all residents

Contemporary Long-Term Care Weekly, April 30, 2009

The principles of restorative nursing care, designed to assist residents to attain and maintain the highest level of physical, mental, and psychosocial function possible, apply to all residents. They are as follows:

• Begin treatment early. Starting restorative care soon after admission or early in the disease will improve the outcome.
• Activity strengthens and inactivity weakens. Keep residents as active as possible. Encourage independence, even if the resident is cognitively impaired.
• Prevent further disability. For example, nursing personnel develop a preventive care plan for high-risk conditions, such as falls, pressure ulcers, contractures, and deformities.
• Stress the resident’s ability and not the disability. Emphasize what the resident can do. Avoid expressions such as “You can’t use your right arm.” Instead, say “You can use your left arm.” Do not assume the resident cannot complete a task until you’ve tried, particularly with residents who are cognitively impaired.
• Treat the whole person. You cannot isolate a medical problem from the rest of the person. Consider all of the resident’s strengths and needs. Use and build on the strengths to overcome the needs.

This is an excerpt from HCPro’s book The Long-Term Care Nursing Desk Reference, written by Barbara Acello, MS, RN.

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