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Member Spotlight

Rhonda Olson, MS, RN, CRRN

Congratulations Rhonda:

 Rehabilitation Nurse Educator of the Year, 2004

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 8 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-Present

                                    Website Chairperson: 2003-Present

                                    Research Committee Co-Chairperson: 1995-Present

                                    Numerous other committees: 1993-Present

 

 

National ARN Involvement:   Continuing Education Approval Review                                                                    Panel:  2002-Present

                            Basic Competencies Committee: 2004

                            Paper/Poster Abstract Review: 1996-2004

                            Poster Judge: 2001, 2004

                            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

 

Community Involvement:

                                 United Ostomy Association Certified Visitor

         Better Breathers Pulmonary Group –

             American Lung Association

                       

           

Awards:   Who’s Who in American Nursing

                  Sigma Theta Tau National Honor Society of Nursing

2000 Editor’s Choice Award, Rehabilitation Nursing

1997 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) Advance Practice Nurse Award: National Association of Rehabilitation Nurses

      1996 SETX Chapter ARN Nurse Consultant of the Year

            Hobbies, Special Interests:       

             Rhonda enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, and baking.  Gardening, especially growing fresh herbs to use in her cooking, is another interest ---- when the friendly neighborhood squirrels don’t devour the harvest first!  Rhonda spends the Christmas holiday in Wisconsin with her family baking over 40 kinds of cookies, as well as lots of candies and breads.

           Previous Experience:            Finding Her Passion

             Rhonda has been in rehabilitation nursing for 25 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

  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. 

             In my current role as an educator, I have the joy of bringing that special kind of caring to individuals and families affected by disability/chronic illness as well as to fellow nurses.  Improved quality of life is witnessed by the individual in chronic pain who is very angry, and initially her body language tells me she is not listening; during the motivation class, her face lights up with a smile, and she starts participating in the discussion.  Or the person who sends a card saying, “Thank You, you changed the whole way I think about pain.”  Educating other nurses through presentations, posters sessions, mentoring and publication ultimately promotes quality life for a greater number of individuals and families.  Education plays a key role in rehabilitation nursing, regardless of the setting or role. 

             That special kind of caring leads rehabilitation nurses to advocate for individuals affected by disability and chronic illness at a personal, community, national, and international level.  Teaching pulmonary clients how to talk to their physician, or working with an individual with a new ostomy to contact appliance manufacturers to get a secure, dependable appliance helps individuals learn to be their own advocates.  Advising a business that they do not meet ADA accessibility requirements, and suggesting ways to make modifications is advocacy on the community level.  Contacting Congressman when your client has difficulty getting mail-order medications delivered by the post office is another example of advocacy.  Advocacy helps individuals to make the most of their abilities, to enjoy a quality life.

            Of course, rehabilitation nursing is a team effort; collaboration is essential, with the client at the center of the team.    But this collaboration goes beyond just the treating team.  As rehabilitation professionals, we must take an active role in our specialty professional association.  Whether this be at the local or national level, active involvement helps build that harmony of knowledge, skills, and creativity to provide that special kind of caring.  Take the risk – get involved!

             Finally, rehabilitation nursing means basing your practice on research findings.  Stimulating interest in research, posting on the Chapter website findings of a recent study on MI risk factors, and teaching clients recent research findings on an anti-inflammatory medication are examples of using research in your practice.  Further involvement in planning and implementing research projects, assisting with development of an evidence-based Core Curriculum, and publishing study results are additional ways to advance that special kind of caring that enhances the quality of life for individuals affected by disability or chronic illness. 

As I have always believed, rehabilitation nursing is nursing at it’s best!

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