Medical Staff

The medical staff should be readily available to quickly assess and evaluate a patient admitted with symptoms of stroke.

If a stroke is suspected, the patient must be rapidly transported and directly admitted to the stroke center for emergency treatment and surgery if necessary.

The emergency stroke team in a hospital forms the first line of defense against brain attack. It should be a highly specialized, multidisciplinary team working around-the-clock to combat stroke emergencies.

The team assesses each patient’s functional status immediately after admission and establishes goals for therapeutic stroke treatment and medical management. Good nursing care is fundamental in maintaining skin care, feeding and hydration and positioning as well as the monitoring of vital signs such as temperature, pulse and blood pressure. Patients and their families also participate in this process.

An emergency team for stroke treatment should include:

Through teamwork, advanced diagnostic procedures and innovative therapies, this team must begin aggressive treatment for the stroke patient within minutes of arrival.

Rehabilitation begins early in the patient’s recovery and is based on the extent of the disability. A dedicated stroke and neurovascular rehabilitation team provides a combination of physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy and psychological assessment. Stroke nurse specialists, case managers and social workers round out the team to provide comprehensive, coordinated care to ensure the optimal outcome for stroke patients. Additional services include sub-specialty rehabilitation for treating post-stroke spasticity and neuropsychological consultation for managing post-stroke depression. The stroke recovery process includes access to a number of support groups to help patients and their families adjust to the changes in their day-to-day lives.

For most stroke patients, physical therapy is the cornerstone of the rehabilitation process. Another type of therapy involving relearning daily activities is occupational therapy (OT). OT involves exercise and training to help the stroke patient relearn everyday activities sometimes called the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) such as eating, drinking and swallowing, dressing, bathing, cooking, reading and writing, and toileting. Speech and language therapy is appropriate for patients who have problems understanding speech or written words, or problems forming speech.

The team should have regular meetings at which the patient and family may be present to discuss the current situation and to set goals and to ensure effective communication.

Most stroke patients will have the greatest improvement of capabilities in the first few weeks after the stroke. However, improvements can be achieved for years afterwards. But this is dependent on an active and ongoing attitude to rehabilitation.

It appears to be often the case that rehabilitation efforts by medical staff are focused on the first few months after the stroke. This means that for the best possible outcome, the stroke patient and caregivers need to be proactive in taking rehabilitation into their own hands. A primary purpose of stroke-recovery-advocate.com is to support you in doing this.