Reflecting on a self-care process in the home setting for traumatic brain injury survivors.

An estimated 5.3 million Americans are living with disabilities from traumatic brain injuries. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause a wide range of functional changes affecting thinking, emotions, and behaviors, or a combination of any of these. Reflecting on a self-care process for patients in TBI home rehabilitation programs becomes critical for nurses who desire to optimize patient functioning. As the young patients' brain plasticity impacts adjustments to deficits and injury, applying the self-care process in the home setting provides a natural healing environment. As TBI survivors recognize and regulate their own behaviors, application of nursing actions dynamically match this change.