Rehab nursing comprises two nursing units at VCU. The North 1 unit is a General Rehab unit that has a Spinal Cord Injury Program and 27 beds. The North 2 unit is a specialized, locked, structured unit for brain injury. North 2 has 14 beds. Nurses who work in rehab have the advantage of being able to work on both units and gain experience in all aspects of rehabilitation. Both the units admit Pediatric patients who are greater than 100lbs and are 12 and over. The North 2 unit is a member of the TBI Model Systems of Care.

The patient population served by rehab includes spinal cord injured, stroke, traumatic brain injury, aneurysm, brain tumors, metastatic disease, neurological diseases, cardiac patients including the Left Ventricular Devise patients, Polytrauma, amputation, solid organ transplant as well as BMT (bone marrow transplant), HIV, orthopedic, trauma, and a variety of medical diagnoses for patients who are diabetic as well as dialysis patients. These patients are generally fragile and medically complex. They need tremendous support from rehab nursing to maintain their stability and to attend therapy during the day shift.

Rehab nursing has the opportunity to care for a variety of medical entities while assisting patients and families to achieve independence in caring for themselves. Relationship based care as a delivery system is promoted by the entire interdisciplinary team. Therapeutic relationships and the healing environment are actively sought by the rehab team. Collaboration between nursing staff, patients, families, interdisciplinary team members as well as the ancillary support is highly regarded. Time for patient and family education is provided by nursing for our patients.
Shared governance within nursing and in collaboration with therapy is highly valued in rehab. Out staff is encouraged to participate in all aspects of shared governance including unit councils, departmental councils and hospital councils, clinical ladder growth. And peer review.

Rehab nursing seeks individuals who believe in the power of healing, therapeutic relationships with our patients and families, our colleagues and each other as well as ourselves. We seek team members who value collaboration, who want to develop strong leadership skills, who delight in exploring the evidence of why we practice certain ways and who really care about their practice and their patients. We hope that if you share these values you will join us on our journey to improve the lives of the people we serve.