All Rehabilitation Nursing News

2022-2023 Board of Directors President, Maria Radwanski, MSN RN CRRN FARN, pens her first letter to membership. 

Have you ever considered that we live on the third rock from a giant fireball that spins at a rate of 1,000 miles per hour as it travels 584 million miles a year around that fiery orb? And while that is happening, we have a little spot on this spinning rock that we call our own? In typical fashion, we form a community based on where we live. But just because we live close to others doesn't necessarily mean we act much like a community of connected people. Let's take a look at how we can connect as and to the community.

Dear Colleagues,

It has been my privilege to serve as your ARN President over the last year as we identified opportunities, strengthened our resilience, and enhanced our ability to support you and your patients.

We have all been charting a course through the unknown of the COVID pandemic. As we emerge into new realities, it is more important than ever to lean on one another. Together, we can overcome such challenges like retaining our staff and recruiting new nurses to our teams. None of us alone have the answers needed to thrive in this post-pandemic healthcare environment. But working together – each of us contributing our expertise, passion, and energy – we can chart a new course into a brighter future.

Expect ARN to be by your side collecting and sharing your ideas, providing some of our own, and outfitting each of you with the resources you need to succeed.​

As we begin a new year, ARN continues its commitment to supporting rehab nurses. The impact of the COVID pandemic continues to challenge our healthcare systems. Many inpatient rehabilitation units have been admitting acute patients. Acute hospitals are challenged to care for COVID patients while meeting the needs of their non-COVID patients.

 In her final message as ARN's 2020-2021 President, Dr. Patricia Quigley reflects on the past year and looks ahead to a month of gathering at ARN's upcoming Rehabilitation Nursing Conference and during the Thanksgiving holiday. The conference will take place virtually November 10-12.

In her October President's Message, ARN President Dr. Patricia Quigley reports on recently held ARN member town hall meetings and provides an update on ARN's membership engagement efforts, including summarizing results from ARN's recent member and CRRN engagement survey. Pat also outlines the path ahead for these efforts and how they will shape ARN for years to come.

In her September President's Message, ARN President Dr. Patricia Quigley examines a recent, first-of-its-kind study that quantifies the impact of visitation restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic on patient experience and safety outcomes. The article is a must-read for rehab nurses as they continue to face ongoing challenges of limited and eliminated visitation privileges for their patients in the midst of the pandemic.

In her August President's Message, ARN President Dr. Patricia Quigley revisits past months' calls for ARN member participation and introduces a new opportunity for rehab nurses to contribute: Reimagining the rehabilitation nursing specialty by "disrupting—for the better—long-standing practices that leave nurses under-developed, under-utilized, and under-appreciated."

In her July President's Message, ARN President Dr. Patricia Quigley encourages rehabilitation nurses to begin preparing for Fall Prevention Awareness Day (September 22) and Week (September 22-28) to help raise awareness about how to prevent falls.

In her June President's Message, ARN President, Dr. Patricia Quigley, shares a personal reflection on how far we have come to face the COVID-19 pandemic. She also shares ideas to help nurses celebrate and enjoy the start of the summer season!

In her May 2021 President's Message, Dr. Patricia Quigley invites ARN members and all rehab nurses to celebrate Nurses' Month, which will take place throughout the month of May, by taking time to celebrate themselves and their colleagues.

Dr. Patricia Quigley's April 2021 President's Message discusses steps ARN and other organizations can take to address the aging nursing workforce by researching workflow, practice, and environmental changes that support older nurses' health and function.

Dr. Patricia Quigley's March 2021 President's Message highlights key aspects of ARN's history and role in establishing a competency model for rehabilitation nursing, as ARN prepares to issue an updated model later this year.

ARN President, Dr. Patricia Quigley, issued the following message via Member Circle on February 22, 2021, to memorialize the grim milestone passed in the U.S. on this day when the country exceeded more than half a million lives lost to COVID-19. Members may login to view responses to Pat's original message and leave their own comments here.

Dear Colleagues,

As the year 2020 entered its final month, a groundbreaking, must-read article was published in The Lancet that necessitates ARN's attention and action. ARN is the only national and international specialty association for rehabilitation nurses in the world positioned to respond to the call for action posed in this article.

A statement from ARN President Dr. Patricia A. Quigley in response to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In her first President's Message of 2021, Dr. Patricia Quigley calls on rehabilitation nurses to fill in gaps within existing COVID-19 research literature by publishing their stories, and, in doing so, assert the vital role of rehabilitation nurses in the care of COVID patients, their families, and their caregivers.

In her December 2020 President's Message, Dr. Patricia Quigley reflects on 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife celebrations in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and applauds ARN members for their resilience. In the spirit of giving this holiday season, Dr. Quigley urges members to consider giving their colleagues a gift that keeps giving: The gift of an ARN membership.

ARN Is Your Voice Around the World 

Since its founding in 1976, the Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) remains the only nursing specialty organization for rehabilitation registered nurses recognized by the American Nurses Association. I am so proud to be your 2020-2021 President! 

ARN members practice a rehabilitation nursing philosophy of care
Having been an ARN member since 1977, I can attest that our association truly believes that rehabilitation nursing is a philosophy of care, not a work setting or a phase of treatment. We base our practice on rehabilitative and restorative principles by:

• managing complex medical issues
• collaborating with other specialists
• providing ongoing patient/caregiver education
• setting goals for maximum independence
• establishing plans of care to maintain optimal wellness.
  
  

The vision of ARN is "to transform health care by integrating rehabilitation nursing concepts into care for all people." To this end, our members form a community devoted to the advancement and promotion of rehabilitation nursing in every practice setting, including acute care, inpatient rehabilitation units, long-term care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and academia.