Foreword

“God wants, man dreams, work is born” - Fernando Pessoa.

Birth requires conception, planning, hesitation, impulse, but above all, a lot of will and commitment. Nothing is born of chance, everything has a raison d'être, even if it is sometimes not noticeable.

The Portuguese Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing (Revista Portuguesa de Enfermagem de Reabilitação - RPER) is the result of a lot of dedication and effort by a group of people who believe. They believe in evolution. They believe in science. They believe in nursing. They believe in rehabilitation. They believe in teamwork. They believe because they believe.

This “work” could only appear at this time, paying homage to a group of colleagues who believed in APER, who gave new life to rehabilitation nursing and who are ready to continue what others started.

With Reabilidades we presented every year, for this time, with excellent moments of reflection and knowledge sharing. Therefore, RPER will have two annual editions: one in June, always with the Summer Debate Cycle; and another in December, coinciding with the International Congress.

We think it is important to create a space that allows the scientific publication of the excellent work that our colleagues do, by giving voice to the silent and valuable knowledge.

We are not always perfect but we must do it, and again, as Fernando Pessoa says “Be tolerant, because you are not sure of anything. Do not judge anyone, because you do not see the motives, but the acts. Expect the best and be prepared for the worst.”

Live life with joy, research and create. So we build and leave a legacy.

We count on your collaboration.

It is for you that we are here.

Congratulations to the Editorial Committee and thank you for accepting this challenge!

Editorial

The number zero of the journal represents a set of authors who have participated in the Portuguese Association for Rehabilitation Nursing and agreed to publish some material under study they had to publish. For this issue, we invited two reviews, national and foreign, for each article, which proceeded blindly to the analysis. The reviewers were selected according to their knowledge of nursing, particularly in the field of rehabilitation studies and with the third cycle of training. We believe that everyone who participated in this issue made an effort to do their best, so the editors are grateful for the contribution so that this dream of some is a reality for many.

We are aware that we are at the beginning of a great journey, with the objective of sharing knowledge, contributing to the development of Rehabilitation nurses and that in a reliable way is guided by the best principles to guarantee readers evidence that facilitates strategies for changing their practices, in order to guarantee the quality of assistance.

We are facing a set of articles, articulated by the context of rehabilitation. We can read studies of a different methodological nature, from literature review, original research studies, some around local samples, and others that are national and even worldwide. We identified that the authors sometimes focus on interventions that lead to rehabilitation processes, with the concern to promote a successful life for those who need this care, now they turn to looking at professionals focused on quality care, but also as representative significant areas of a specific nursing intervention area.

We cannot fail to affirm that among the rehabilitation care studied, and expressed here, they are located in contemporary and classic intervention areas (respiratory and neurological) that are valued, punctually, for self-care. We believe that in coming issues we will have other themes and innovative approaches, representative of the evolution of the work of rehabilitation nurses in Portugal.

We are opening a door to a path that we want to follow, accompanied by all those who have done studies or are going to do, where in a specific and profound way, they transform intuitive practices into knowledge, related to professional, ethical and legal responsibility. The improvement of quality, the management of care and the development of professional learning always compete to care for people with special needs, throughout the life cycle, in all contexts of care practice.

The care developed by rehabilitation nurses has evolved. And if in the sixties they were carried out based on the teachings of Nurse Sales Luís and her companions, given the strong concern of the consequences left by the war injuries, nowadays, we add value to this care. We follow the evolution of the world and are prepared to intervene in the rehabilitation processes focused on prevention, the sequelae of chronic diseases, aging and various contexts, from highly complex units such as intensive care, inside and outside hospitals, but also in health centers or in the homes of the people we care for, we believe that future articles will bring these realities to readers.

With the advances, technological, knowledge, and professions, we know that we cannot be ‘islands’, but we are sure that we have all the conditions to be ‘bridges’, and leaders in caring for the person, groups and communities that have to rebuild their life after an expected or unexpected disabling process.

We count that the number ZERO of the journal, which was carefully elaborated, is the starting point for the dissemination of the knowledge generated by the rehabilitation nurses and it is a real challenge for everyone who wants to publish about the rehabilitation.