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Member Spotlight

 Rhonda Olson,  MS, RN, CRRN

Rehabilitation Nurse Consultant of the Year, 1996

 

Current Employment:  RS Consulting

Position:   Independent Rehabilitation Nurse Consultant

Plan and present rehabilitation classes for professionals as well as individuals with chronic illness/disability.  Consult on research projects, educational programs, presentations, and legal cases.

Has published 7 manuscripts and co-authored a chapter in a rehabilitation nursing text book. 

 

ARN Involvement:  Member of ARN since 1981

                                    SETX Chapter Member since 1991

                                    Consultant to Chapter Board of Directors 1999-Present

                                    Chapter Past-President Board Member: 1998

                                    Chapter President: 1997

                                    Chapter President- Elect: 1996

                                    Chapter Board Member: 1994-1995

                                    Membership Committee Chairperson: 2003

                                    Website Chairperson: 2003

                                    Research Committee Co-Chairperson: 1995-Present

                                    Numerous other committees: 1993-Present

 

 

National ARN Involvement:   Continuing Education Approval Review Panel:

2002-Present

                                                    Paper/Poster Abstract Review: 1996-2003

                                                    Poster Judge: 2001

                                                    Managed Care Task Force: 1998

                                                    Item Writing CRRN-Advanced Exam: 1996-1998

                                                    Editor/Author Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation

                                                            Nursing Text (ARN Series): 1995-1999

                                                    Paper & Poster presenter: Numerous Years

Rehabilitation Nursing Certification Board: 1997-2001

 

 

Awards:   Who’s Who in American Nursing

                  Sigma Theta Tau National Honor Society of Nursing

      1997 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) Advance Practice Nurse

            Award: National Association of Rehabilitation Nurses

      2000 Editor’s Choice Award, Rehabilitation Nursing

Previous Experience:            Finding Her Passion

             Rhonda has been in rehabilitation nursing for 24 years.  She found her niche during her undergraduate student clinical experiences. She had the opportunity to follow a woman with a traumatic head injury from coma in ICU, to the Neurosurgery Unit where she spoke her first word, to the next semester on the Rehabilitation Unit and the woman’s discharge back into the community.  Rhonda thought she had been “stuck” with a clinical rotation on the Rehabilitation Unit, and instead it turned out to be her passion in life.

              Rhonda also lives with her own chronic illnesses and physical challenges; rehabilitation is a part of her everyday life.  She states she has learned more on “this side of disability and chronic illness” than in all her professional experience and formal education. 

What Rehabilitation Nursing Means to Me: A Special Kind of Caring

              Rhonda writes, “ What does rehabilitation nursing mean to me?  My business card displays it in the logo; let me explain it with words.”

                        Rehabilitation Nursing:

                                    A caring heart,

                                    A helping hand,

                                    An opportunity to grow,

                                    And wings ... to fly away.

             Rehabilitation nursing is a special kind of caring; a harmony of knowledge, skills and creativity blending together to help individuals with disabilities and chronic illnesses to make the most of their abilities, to enjoy a quality life. 

A Caring Heart:

            Rehabilitation nursing comes from the heart.  It’s that gentle smile, the caring touch, and open ear that is always ready to listen.  The individual and family experiencing the dramatic life changes and challenges brought about by a disabling injury or illness often need that support in order to maintain courage and hope.  The rehabilitation nurse also gives large doses of encouragement and helps to celebrate each tiny victory along the long road to recovery.  The reward for that special caring is often a heart bursting with joy as a person who has struggled and worked to meet his or her goals is able to triumphantly return home. 

A  Helping Hand:

            A harmony of knowledge, skills, and creativity blend together to help individuals make the most of their abilities.  The focus is on one’s abilities, not disabilities.  Sometimes this may mean helping the person with the morning bath, and sometimes it means holding your hands behind your back while you watch and coach the individual as he or she struggles to dress independently.  Perhaps it means creatively using mirrors and special adaptive devices to help a woman with limited hand dexterity learn to self-catheterize.  Maybe its use of sharp and accurate assessment skills to detect a subtle change in a client.  Whatever the situation, specialized, individualized care is given.  Working with the other rehabilitation team members and always keeping the individual, their family, and their goals as the center of that team are important.

            Offering that helping hand may take place in the community in the form of advocating for individuals with disabilities.  For example, I have complimented the manager of a grocery on the friendly assistance offered, and told the manager of a newly opened restaurant that they earned and “A” for accessibility.  Helping a physician to design easy accessibility when constructing a new office building, calling an office manager when the building wheelchair ramp was too steep to meet code, or asking a person parked without a permit in a handicap parking spot if they really need that spot are other ways of lending that "helping hand".             

            Sharing information with other rehabilitation nurses through journal articles, paper and poster presentations and continuing education offerings; sharing the treasures of rehabilitation nursing with student nurse; and participating in a community “Better Breather’s” support group are further opportunities to lend that helping hand.  Utilizing current research to guide nursing care, validate interventions, and develop policy and procedure enables us to provide quality care an in turn, help individuals to make the most of their abilities. 

An Opportunity to Grow:

            Rehabilitation helps an individual with a disability to restore, refresh, and grow.  The challenges posed may lead to discovery of new interests or talents, and new ways of doing things previously enjoyed.  Experiencing a disability may open new doors of opportunity and enhance the individual’s personal growth.  Rehabilitation nurses help to guide this growth by providing tools to allow problem solving and self-management of health care, and suggesting resources.  Education is key; almost every interaction with the client and family involves teaching. 

            In addition to promoting growth for client’s and families, rehabilitation nursing involves cultivation one’s own professional development.  This means challenging yourself, seeking out learning experiences, seizing new opportunities.  For myself, personal experience with physical challenges and chronic illness has provided a unique opportunity for growth. 

            Being a mentor for other rehabilitation professionals is also important.  Offering guidance and advice helps others to grow and provides personal rewards as well.  For example, assisting a colleague to write an abstract, submit it for presentation at a national conference, and then sharing in the joy of having it accepted was extremely gratifying.

And Wings ... To fly Away:

            The ultimate goal of rehabilitation is for the individual to be able to perform or direct one’s own cares, to be as independent as possible, and to enjoy a quality life.  When that person looks in the mirror, the reflections should be of a person who is active and in control.  Rehabilitation nurses assist individuals to cope, to heal to learn, ... to develop those wings to fly away.  It all involves that very special kind of caring.  That is why I am proud to say “I am a rehabilitation nurse.”

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