Rehab Select Blog

If you have had surgery, good surgical wound care is important to ensure proper healing and recovery, prevention of excess scarring, and protection against infections and other complications. Once you are discharged from the hospital, the responsibility for that care will rest primarily on your shoulders and will include caring for the incision, cleaning the wound, changing dressings, applying any prescribed topical treatments, taking antibiotics or other medications as directed, and monitoring the wound for signs of infection.

Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs that can be caused by a variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi. These infections are characterized by inflammation and/or a buildup of fluid and pus in the alveoli – the tiny air sacs of the lungs. Pneumonia can, in many cases, become very serious, resulting in extreme sickness or even death. While anyone can be affected by pneumonia, the condition is most dangerous in people over age 65, children under the age of 5, and individuals who are affected by underlying health problems or have weakened immune systems.

If you have just had hip replacement surgery, you likely have a lot of questions about what to expect during the recovery and rehabilitation process. The first thing to know is that it is important to follow your surgeon's post-op limitations and instructions very carefully to avoid complications and setbacks as you work to get back on your feet. Secondly, getting back to normal will take time, and taking an active role in your own care, healing, and rehabilitation can help ensure that the process moves along as quickly as possible.

Sepsis is a serious and often life-threatening complication of an infection. It occurs when the body has an overwhelming response to a bacterial infection, releasing infection-fighting chemicals into the bloodstream that trigger inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation can lead to blood clots and leaky blood vessels, which causes poor blood flow, depriving the body and its organs of the oxygen and nutrients needed to function effectively. In severe cases, organs may fail. In the worst cases, a dangerous drop in blood pressure occurs and the heart is weakened, leading to a life-threatening condition called septic shock.

If you plan to use the services of a short term rehab program as a means of ensuring your best recovery after surgery, choosing a top-notch program that delivers quality care is essential to meeting that goal. One of the most important factors to consider in order to assess the quality of care you can expect from such a program is the patient to staff ratio of that program. What is the patient to staff ratio and why is it so important?

Joint replacement surgery, which replaces a damaged or diseased joint with an artificial joint, has helped millions of people reduce chronic pain and restore mobility and independence. Knees and hips are the joints most frequently replaced via these procedures, with over a million Americans having one of these joints replaced every year, according the National Institutes of Health. So why do so many people need joint replacement? In many cases, arthritis is the answer to that question, as the disease causes joint damage and deterioration that can lead to chronic pain and significant disability, severely impacting quality of life.

Case managers play an important role in our health care system – a role that has expanded greatly over the last several decades. So what does a case manager do? Case managers are professionals who specialize in overseeing and organizing the case management process, which is, according to the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses, "a process of assessing, planning, organizing, coordinating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the services and resources needed to respond to an individual's health care needs."

Understanding senior health care benefits is very important for people who have reached, or are approaching, the age of retirement. After all, everyone wants to feel secure and comfortable during those Golden Years, and good medical care is essential to enjoying that feeling. So what do aging Americans need to know about health benefits? 

If you are considering joint replacement surgery, knowing exactly what you're getting into is essential to making a well-informed decision about whether or not this surgery is right for you. Should you decide to move forward with surgery, knowing what to expect from the procedure, as well as the recovery and rehabilitation period, is very important to ensure you're prepared to make solid decisions about your care throughout the process. In the interest of helping you learn what you need to know to make these decisions with confidence, let's go over the basic facts on joint replacement procedures.

If you or a loved one is spending time in the hospital due to a serious medical event, surgery, or illness, and discharge planning is underway, you may have heard the term "care planning meeting" used in reference to those preparations. So just what is the purpose a care planning meeting? Who is responsible for setting up these meetings? Who will be involved and what do they offer in terms of improving patient care?