Co-ordination of patient care in inpatient rehabilitation

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a new patient care co-ordinator position in an inpatient rehabilitation setting.Design: Pre and post test using a 42-item staff survey.Setting: One inpatient rehabilitation service in rural New South Wales, Australia.Subjects: Members of the multidisciplinary team.Intervention: A new patient care co-ordinator position.Outcome measures: Comparison of trends in staff responses to pre and post test surveys.Findings: The post test survey demonstrated an overall increase in the reported frequency of desirable rehabilitation practices and increased staff satisfaction with those practices.Conclusions: A patient care co-ordinator may contribute to improving the processes and practices of inpatient rehabilitation and staff satisfaction.