Treatment Team - Inpatient Rehabilitation

When you are referred to our inpatient rehabilitation program, a rehabilitation admissions liaison will complete a review of your medical record. During this review, the liaison will assess your condition to identify specific needs and evaluate your eligibility for the program. The liaison will speak with you and your family to discuss our rehabilitation facilities and determine which location is the best fit. 

A physiatrist is a doctor who specializes in restoring functional ability and quality of life after an illness, disease or injury. The physiatrist is responsible for your medical care, leads the rehabilitation treatment team and prescribes all rehabilitation services. Other specialists may be consulted as well, depending on your medical needs. 

The goal of rehabilitation nursing is to support you in achieving maximum independence in your overall health, while maintaining safety. Rehabilitation nurses provide hands-on care 24 hours a day, coordinate nursing care activities with other members of the team and identify educational activities needed to help you progress through the rehabilitation process. 

Your case manager serves as a liaison among you, your family, the treatment team and your insurance company. Your case manager’s primary objective is to manage your care at an appropriate level to help ensure you receive the greatest benefit from rehabilitation. 

Your case manager also coordinates arrangements with the treatment team, and with you and your family, for ongoing medical needs as you prepare for discharge home. During the program, your case manager will be available to address your concerns and to serve as a liaison with the rehabilitation team. 

Your physical therapist will promote healing and improvements in strength, movement, endurance, balance, coordination, education and safety. We are grateful for our dedicated therapists, who continuously use the latest evidence-based interventions, seek professional development through specialty certifications and continuing education, and provide customized treatment plans to each patient in order to maximize the patient’s independence and safety with all aspects of functional mobility. 

Your occupational therapist will develop a plan of care to help you improve areas of self-care independence and daily living skills, vision and visual perception, cognition (thinking skills), arm function, bowel and bladder management, and safety. Daily living skills may be used to improve mobility, strength, motor control, endurance and coordination. If you need special equipment, your occupational therapist may recommend it and help teach you how it should be used. 

Your speech therapist will complete skilled assessments of, and contribute to your progress in, the areas of speech, language, cognition (thinking skills), swallowing and safety. Some strategies may include videofluoroscopic swallow studies, fiber optic endoscopic evaluation and standardized tests. Your speech therapist will plan structured activities to retrain former skills, improve areas of challenge and teach compensatory techniques, if needed. Rehabilitation clinical specialists 

They boast extensive experience in neurologic and physical rehabilitation. These specialists provide mentorship to other clinicians to maximize patient outcomes, improve quality of care and provide a collaborative learning environment.

Your rehabilitation team will include a psychologist trained in clinical psychology, rehabilitation psychology or neuropsychology. Our psychologists are available to work with you and your family as well as consult with other members of the rehabilitation team to help you adjust to your health status and your hospitalization. 

Our certified therapeutic recreation specialists will collaborate you, your family and your other therapists to address health, recovery and wellbeing using meaningful, goal-oriented leisure activities. Specialized services at our inpatient rehabilitation facilities include horticulture, canvas painting, peer mentoring, animal-assisted therapy, trivia groups, wellness activities, music therapy and community outings. 

The role of the dietitian on the rehabilitation team is to help you meet your specific nutrition goals. For example, the dietitian monitors tube feeding adequacy, helps you change from tube feeding to oral diets, and monitors your caloric and dietary needs to ensure you have the nutrients you need to optimize your recovery. In certain cases, the dietitian will meet with you and your family to review food likes and dislikes, instruct you on your diet prescription, and provide you with up-to-date and accurate nutrition information. 

A full-time hospital chaplain and trained volunteer chaplains from a variety of religious backgrounds provide spiritual and emotional support to patients and families. Volunteer chaplains are available to you at all times to help support you during your rehabilitation stay. 

Palliative care is the medical specialty focused on the treatment of pain, stress and other symptoms of a serious illness. At Inova, the palliative care team is available to patients undergoing treatment as well as those transitioning to hospice. Palliative care provides an added layer of support for patients at all ages and at all stages of any serious or advanced disease, whatever the prognosis. 

Respiratory therapists work with physicians and other members of the healthcare team to identify, treat and care for patients with respiratory diseases or breathing disorders. They provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary care to manage respiratory conditions, while you work on improving your functional performance. 

Our wound care team consists of certified wound ostomy and continence nurses who specialize in caring for and preventing wounds. These specialized nurses undergo rigorous training programs and testing to obtain their certifications and are recertified every five years to ensure they are providing the most up-to-date, high-quality care.