Spinal Injuries Unit - Acute and Rehabilitation Inpatient Wards

We are a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals and we work together with you to set and reach treatment goals. Our team includes:

Dietitian

After a spinal cord injury, the way your body uses and stores the food you eat may change. It is likely you will lose weight and muscle because of your injury. Our Clinical Dietitian will:

• assess your nutrition needs 
• monitor your weight, foods and drinks while you are in hospital
• provide dietary advice and education to you and your family throughout as your nutrition goals and needs may change.

Clinical Care Coordinator

The Clinical Care Coordinator’s role is to ensure you have a smooth and supported transition from hospital to home. Your rehabilitation journey will include an initial welcome and orientation to the ward, education, services and community supports to facilitate your journey home. 

The role involves meetings between yourself, the health team and your family to support you in achieving your specific goals during your hospital stay.

The Clinical Care Coordinator will also refer you to appropriate community supports and be involved in your education program.  For example, what bladder and bowel equipment you may require and how to order equipment. 

Doctors

When a patient comes to the unit, they would be admitted under one of our specialist doctors. He or she would be your primary treating doctor and would be responsible for your ongoing care through your journey in the hospital and sometimes after you leave hospital. You can expect to see them once a week.

The medical team also includes other doctors specialising in rehabilitation and doctors in training. Their is always a doctor available to deal with any medical problems that you may have. 

Considering the complexity of spinal cord injuries we often closely work with other specialists including: 

• Neurosurgeons
• Orthopaedic surgeons
• Respiratory physicians
• Pain specialists
• Urologists
• Plastic surgeons
• Psychiatrists
• Infectious disease specialists

Nurses

Our nurses will be involved with your care on a day-to-day basis. They will:

• help you to practice and achieve your rehabilitation goals
• help you to adapt to a changed lifestyle in a safe environment for you and your family
• provide education and teach you and your family new skills
• help you and your family deal with any issues of grief and loss that you and your family may experience
• inform you on how to prevent complications now and in the future
• help manage any pain.

Clinical Nurse Consultant

Coping with a spinal cord injury is very challenging and an important part of the clinical nurse consultant (CNC) is to provide support, education and training to you and those who support you. They will also assist you in making decisions about your personal care. Some of the areas that you may require help with include skin care, bladder and bowel care, autonomic dysreflexia education, and sexuality and fertility functioning.
 
We hold a patient/family education program every Thursday morning at 11am in the dining area of the Spinal Unit. This program is run with the assistance and support of the Spinal Cord Injuries Australia Peer Support Program.

The CNC will work with you, your family and your care provider to determine how much assistance and nursing related equipment you may require when you leave hospital. The CNC will help make requests for care.  

Occupational Therapists

Your Occupational Therapist (OT) will be working with you to achieve independence in various areas of your daily life, including:

• Personal Care (feeding, drinking, grooming, showering & dressing)
• Mobility (including wheelchair mobility)
• Home living (access, cooking, cleaning)
• Community living (shopping, banking, driving)
• Leisure activities
• Work and study options

You will be scheduled 3-5 sessions a week with your OT. We will support you with identifying your goals which guide your therapy program. Your program may include:

• Hand and upper limb exercises
• Transfer and mobility training
• Personal care retraining
• Community access
• Equipment trials and provision
• Recommendations to make sure you can get around your house safely once you go home
• Education for you and your family/carer

Occupational Therapists have specialist knowledge in wheelchairs, adaptive equipment, pressure care management, home modifications and technology to aid independence in your everyday life.

Home access and modifications

Your specific needs will be discussed with you. Where necessary a home visit will be made to identify what modifications can be made that will support you to stay safe and independent within your home. Home modifications rely on accessing funding. What funding is available will vary depending on where you live.

Work and study options

Another part of the OT program is a service called In-Voc which provides vocational rehabilitation. In-Voc works collaboratively with you and your current employer to help you to identify and explore work or study options.

Leisure

Various leisure pursuits will be introduced to you. You will be invited to join the rehabilitation team in regular outings arranged by the sports and recreation officer. No allied health therapy sessions take place on scheduled outing days

Psychology

A spinal cord injury is considered a traumatic event and is often life changing. It will affect you physically, emotionally and socially. These challenges and difficulties can initially appear devastating as virtually all aspects of life is disrupted.  At this time, you may not know what to expect from your injury and may find it difficult to make sense what has a happened. 

You will be seen by a psychologist following your spinal cord injury who will work with you to address your individual needs. These needs may be addressed by yourself or with your significant other or family. The psychologist commonly assists with:

• Counselling for psychological reactions such as shock, anger, disbelief, grief
• Therapy to address your beliefs about your sense of self and your future
• Counselling relating to altered sexual image and functioning
• Stress management and coping skills 
• Pain management strategies
• Neuropsychological assessment and referrals when traumatic brain injury accompanies a spinal cord injury
• When necessary, the psychologist works closely with the treating psychiatrist
• Referral to ongoing psychological Services where appropriate

The psychologist is part of a multidisciplinary team, and with your permission will communicate to other team information regarding counselling issues and your progress when appropriate. 

Physiotherapy

Our Physiotherapists help to optimise your abilities and independence. We will work with your Occupational Therapist to get you out of bed and introduce you to the ward and gym spaces. We will review your breathing, strength, movement and flexibility. We will talk with you about your goals and develop a program with you to help you with everyday skills and prepare you for going home. This may include:

• strategies to improve your breathing or coughing
• exercises to build your strength, fitness and flexibility
• splints to optimise the use of your arms and hands
• use of our hydrotherapy pool
• treatment of muscle/joint issues
• functional task retraining
• optimise your ability to perform particular tasks e.g getting in and out of bed, using your wheelchair, walking
• preparations for going home including exercises for home, equipment and ongoing services

Your Physiotherapist will tailor your program to your ongoing goals and home environment.    

We offer physiotherapy sessions twice a day Monday to Friday, and the gym is also open on Saturdays. These sessions will be scheduled on a timetable provided to you.

Sport and Recreation Officer
 
The Spinal Injuries Unit has a Sport and Recreation Officer who will assist you to pursue your particular sporting and recreational interests.
 
The Sport and Recreational Officer organises community access visits and other activities away from the hospital.  These are very beneficial in the process of adjustment back into the community.
 
As well as these community access visits, the Sport and Recreation Officer can arrange attendance and participation in a variety wheelchair sports ‘come and try’ sessions and other activities which may occur outside normal working hours.
 
The Sport and Recreation Officer also can advise you on many other aspects of your recreational life such as community access, public transport, accommodation, travel, etc. and has a wide range of resource material to which you can refer.
 
From a clinical perspective the Sport and Recreational Officer works in the Physiotherapy Department and assists the physiotherapists with your physiotherapy program, conducts hydrotherapy sessions (under the guidance of the physiotherapists) and will teach wheelchair skill training.

Social Workers

Spinal cord injury is a life changing event for both the individual and their support network. Social Workers are here to support you and your family by offering emotional and practical assistance.

Emotional Support

It is normal to experience shock and disbelief after sustaining a spinal cord injury. Social Workers can offer a safe space for you to talk about your grief and loss. You may experience a range of emotions as you process changes to your lifestyle, relationships and body. Social Workers provide adjustment counselling and can help you and your family cope emotionally with the effects of spinal cord injury.

Practical Support

Social Workers assist with practical needs in the following areas:

• Finances – Centrelink, income protection, superannuation
• Legal matters – Link you in with agencies who can provide proper legal advice
• Transport – Assist you to apply for parking and transport subsidies
• Personal care – Support you to arrange care on discharge if needed
• Insurance – Liaise with the relevant insurer such as icare, CTP, NDIS and My Aged Care
• Accommodation – Help you to navigate the private rental market, apply for Housing NSW and/or Specialist Disability Accommodation
• Community - Connect you with community supports such as Spinal Outreach Services, Forward Ability and Spinal Cord Injuries Australia

Patients are provided with a timetable each week which has their therapy schedule as well as times for Education sessions and Goal Planning Meetings.

 

Spinal Cord	Disability Gateway Forward Ability Support  Spinal Cord Injuries Australia Spinal Outreach Service  The State Spinal Cord Injury Service Spinal Cord Injury and Pain Health Direct - Spinal Cord injury Physical Disability Council of NSW QLD Spinal Cord Injury Service
Counselling	Wesley Mission Traumatic Stress Clinic Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ)
Finances	mygov - Payments if you are sick or injured Services Australia - Payments if you are living with a disability
Legal	Law Society NSW Community Legal Centres NSW Women’s Legal Services NSW
Transport	Taxi Subsidy Scheme  Mobility Parking Scheme  Community Transport
Personal Care	Disability Gateway - Everyday living Carer Gateway Respite Support  My Aged Care: Find a provider (myagedcare.gov.au)
Insurance	State Insurance Regulatory Authority Insurance and Care NSW | icare National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Accommodation	Disability Gateway - Your Housing Rights
Equipment	Essential Medical Equipment Payment Enable NSW  Vital Call
Nutrition	Nutrition for adults with spinal cord injury (nsw.gov.au)) Health Share NSW ‘Nutritious food for good health – Guidelines for bringing occasional food to patients

Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and the healthcare professional you want to speak with.

We are a teaching hospital and you may be asked to be involved in research or for a student to be present at your appointment. You have a right to say no. If you do so, this will not impact in any way on the services we will provide.