Roger Turner , NC PTA #694

(1) A skilled nursing facility is a facility or distinct part of an institution whose primary function is to provide medical, continuous nursing, and other health and social services to patients who are not in an acute phase of illness requiring services in a hospital, but who require primary restorative or skilled nursing services on an inpatient basis above the level of intermediate or custodial care in order to reach a degree of body functioning to permit self care in essential daily living. It meets any licensing or certification standards et forth by the jurisdiction where it is located. A skilled nursing facility may be a freestanding facility or part of a hospital that has been certified by Medicare to admit patients requiring subacute care and rehabilitation; (2) Provides non-acute medical and skilled nursing care services, therapy and social services under the supervision of a licensed registered nurse on a 24-hour basis.

A practitioner of mechanotherapy examines patients by verbal inquiry, examination of the musculoskeletal system by hand, and visual inspection and observation. In the treatment of patients, mechanotherapists employ the techniques of advised or supervised exercise; electrical neuromuscular stimulation; massage or manipulation; or air, water, heat, cold, sound, or infrared ray therapy.