Journal of the Australasian Rehabilitation Nurses' Association

This article offers an overview of the Subacute In The Home program and presents two case studies illustrating nursing’s contribution to rehabilitation and geriatric and evaluation medicine care. While the Subacute In The Home program is relatively new, it provides a valuable service for people living in one geographical area of Australia. It also offers insight to others who might be looking to start a similar program to meet the needs of people living at home in other geographical areas.

This article is a call to action for nurses to critically reflect on their ability to enhance their proficiency in cultivating successful nurse-patient relationships while upholding the necessary boundaries inherent in their professional roles. In rehabilitation, the nurse-patient relationship is meaningful and transformative, potentially impacting patient outcomes significantly. This paper delves into three fundamental elements of nursing in rehabilitation. First, the concept of rehabilitation is explored, highlighting the role of nurses as not just carers but as catalysts for transformation and emphasising the potential of relationships in facilitating change. Second, underscoring the centrality of the nurse-patient relationship and its crucial role in enhancing the patient’s rehabilitation journey, establishing, utilising, maintaining, and modifying effective relationships, fostering patient motivation, and inspiring hope, is discussed. Healthcare professionals, particularly rehabilitation nurses, are not just responsible for promoting these relationships but are the cornerstone of successful rehabilitation. The quality of these relationships can significantly influence the patient’s recovery and well-being, pointing to the significance of the nurse’s role as essential and integral to the patient’s rehabilitation journey. Upholding professional boundaries in these relationships is a critical responsibility that nurses must take seriously, as it ensures the ethical and practical delivery of care.

Sampling is a common methodological process undertaken in health research. The overall purpose of the sampling process is to identify a target population and then to draw a sample from the population using a sampling technique. Sampling can be unfamiliar to beginner researchers and consumers of research, such as rehabilitation nurses. Nonetheless, sampling and the chosen technique need consideration when designing a study and when appraising the research literature. This is due to the potential impact these processes can have on the external validity and overall quality of health research, impacting on the generalisability of the results. This paper is the first in a two-part series with the overall aim to aid the understanding of methods used in health research by beginner researchers and clinical nurses. In this paper sampling and sampling techniques are explored.