Rehabilitation in the Acute Setting (REHB90004)

This online subject provides students with the opportunity to build a deep understanding of the safe and effective application of rehabilitation principles to meet the health needs of individuals with critical illness. Attention is focused primarily on the assessment and rehabilitation of individuals within the intensive care setting and consideration on planning for reintegration back into the community. This subject will provide a problem based approach to enable students with an opportunity to extend their understanding of advanced anatomy, physiology, pathology, assessment and treatment in relation to ICU rehabilitation. The emphasis in this subject is the application of clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice in the safe and effective assessment and rehabilitation of individuals within the intensive care setting and consideration post intensive care on their ongoing management. Consideration will also be given to the rights of individuals and impact of team management processes in providing rehabilitation within the acute setting.

All students will complete four modules within this subject.

All students will complete a Foundational module that will explore anatomy, physiology and pathology which may affect the different body systems in particular the cardiovascular, respiratory and musculoskeletal systems. The implications of impairment in these systems will be considered in conjunction with the monitoring (lines and attachments) that may be seen with individuals who are critically unwell. At the end of this module students will also have an understanding of the legacy of post intensive care syndrome and the burden of survivorship on the physical, cognitive and mental health of survivors and also the impact on the mental health of family.

Students will then choose two from four modules that best meets their learning interests and/or practice needs. These modules are:

1. Rehabilitation in the Intensive Care Setting module comprises the study of non-volitional and volitional rehabilitation strategies including consideration of safety, exercise prescription, delivery methods and evaluation of the program

2. Rehabilitation considerations post intensive care module addresses rehabilitation, exercise prescription, delivery and the evaluation of exercise programs in the ward and community setting.

3. Outcome Measures across the continuum module focuses on outcome measures which can be utilised to measure impairment, activity limitations and participation restriction in line with the International Classification of Functioning framework. Course content will include specific development of the performance and interpretation of measurements and consideration of the clinimetric properties of outcomes.

4. Culture Change and Implementation module covers the analyses of cultural factors that enable and restrict the implementation of rehabilitation in acute settings. Leadership and management theory will be used as a basis for designing and negotiating barriers to implementation of mobility and rehabilitation protocols into acute setting such as intensive and critical care settings.

The final integration module will be completed by all students and will focus on the application of rehabilitation theory to practice with an understanding of the needs of the individual within the ICU and community settings. Students will integrate and apply their learning from the previous three modules into context specific applications. They will select appropriate outcome measures and critically review literature to solve contextually relevant rehabilitation challenges demonstrating in-depth understanding of the complexity of the medical stability of the patient and choice of rehabilitation strategies.