One of the hardest parts of rehabilitation nursing is sitting on your hands, Judy Watanabe said. But doing nothing is actually doing something for patients who are learning to do for themselves.

When spinal cord injury, brain injury and other trauma patients reach the 20-bed rehabilitation unit, the acute care is done. It's time to go to work, Watanabe said. Their job is to master the daily living skills for what likely will be a drastically different life than they have known. After release, many patients will have personal attendants whom they will have to instruct in their care, she said.

"You've got to know when to be a cheerleader for your patients and what to encourage them to do," whether they are getting dressed, learning to walk again or feeding themselves, Watanabe said. "That takes a special kind of nurse. You have to let them fail or succeed and practice.

"Our main goal is for them to go home, and without them being able to do their [activities of daily living], they can't."

Watanabe said the horse-riding accident that paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve went miles toward spinal cord research and public awareness. But nurses new to rehabilitation can be overwhelmed by quadriplegic patients requiring total care, halos and other braces and equipment.

"We see a lot of people go through the five stages of loss," Watanabe said. As an educator and winner of her hospital's preceptor award, among others, she is a testament that the RN's attitude is a crucial patient motivator. "Our floor is upbeat," she said.

Watanabe, while known for her knowledge, sensitivity and sense of humor, is most often seen as treating patients as part of her family. "Teaching and caring for others filled me with such joy that my own needs became secondary," she said.

Family is how Watanabe came to nursing after a 15-year career in real estate sales. She said that because of her flexible schedule, she was asked to care for an aunt who was dying of lung cancer. For two months she did and repeatedly heard from the aunt: did you not become a nurse? You missed your calling."

Watanabe later took up Anoka-Ramsey Community College on an offer of a free course for those who had not been in school for 20 years or more.

She aced an anatomy/physiology class, talked to the nursing director, signed up and, "Here I am."

"I couldn't think of doing anything else," Watanabe said, fully recognizing the role of her patients and other rehab nurses in her success.

"I'm driven by my teammates to do and learn as much as possible," she said. "We are a team, a unit that works together. Without my colleagues, I couldn't do what I love to do."