Conducting Biological Research to Advance Rehabilitation Nursing Practice

Rehabilitation nursing practice is concerned with many clinical manifestations that have an underlying biological impairment. Advances in managing these manifestations will depend in part on research that incorporates the biological dimension. The purpose of this article is to encourage more rehabilitation nurses to engage in biological research. To achieve this aim, several different categories of biological nursing research are described using rehabilitation nursing examples, biological measures and approaches are discussed, and possible general clinical outcomes, with examples from previously published biological nursing research, are described. Biological nursing research may enhance professional competence, improve patient care, and improve patient safety

Clinical nursing implications for the recovery of atrophied skeletal muscle following bed rest

Atrophied skeletal muscle is a common clinical manifestation of bed rest that occurs primarily because of a lack of weight-bearing activity on the muscle. Findings from several studies using an animal model to simulate the effects of bed rest on muscles indicate that when atrophied muscle is used again for weight-bearing activity, it undergoes a series of physiological changes, such as muscle fiber (myofiber) damage, death, and regeneration. Also, in the recovering muscle, the inflammatory white blood cells, called macrophages, accumulate and shift in type in relation to the ongoing myofiber changes. Similar processes may occur in the muscles of a patient resuming normal physical activity following bed rest. The authors briefly describe the physiological changes related to atrophied muscle recovery and the implications for nursing care. Nursing measures for the recovery period may include (a) assessing for symptoms associated with muscle injury, decreased strength, and fatigue; (b) encouraging sufficient protein intake and maintaining normal metabolic demands to ensure muscle repair; and (c) temporarily avoiding the use of immunosuppressive therapy, if possible, to ensure adequate macrophage function