Background Critical illness is a traumatic experience, often resulting in post‐intensive care syndrome, affecting people's physical, psychological, emotional, and social well‐being. The early recovery period is associated with increased risk, negatively impacting longer‐term outcomes. Aims The aims of this study were to understand the recovery and rehabilitation needs of people who survive a COVID‐19 critical illness. Design and Methods An exploratory descriptive qualitative interview study with 20 survivors of COVID‐19 critical illness from two community‐based healthcare settings in London, England. Data collection took place September 2020–April 2021, at least 1 month after hospital discharge by telephone or virtual platform. Data were subjected to inductive thematic analysis and mapped deductively to the three core concepts of self‐determination theory: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Findings Three key themes emerged: traumatic experience, human connection and navigating a complex system. Participants described how societal restrictions, fear and communication problems caused by the pandemic added to their trauma and the challenge of recovery. The importance of positive human connections, timely information and support to navigate the system was emphasized. Conclusions Whilst findings to some extent mirror those of other qualitative pre‐pandemic studies, our findings highlight how the uncertainty and instability caused by the pandemic add to the challenge of recovery affecting all core concepts of self‐determination (autonomy, competence, relatedness). Relevance to Clinical Practice Understanding survivors' perspectives of rehabilitation needs following COVID‐19 critical illness is vital to delivery of safe, high‐quality care. To optimize chances of effective recovery, survivors desire a specialist, co‐ordinated and personalized recovery pathway, which reflects humanized care. This should be considered when planning future service provisions.

Pain is both a sensory and emotional experience and can be measured with the use of pain scoring charts. Pain scoring is seen as a valuable tool especially as an aid to post-operative nursing care. Currently pain scoring systems are designed for assessing acute post-operative pain and have been validated for use in dogs. However they can be useful in assessing pain experienced in cats suffering from diseases such as chronic kidney disease, and can assist the nursing care provided to patients hospitalised for treatment of the disease. Patient care could be improved if a more holistic approach to nursing was adopted which encouraged veterinary nurses to not only consider the physical aspects of pain but also the emotional side.

Sustaining independence as we age is highly dependent on good cognitive health. Cognitive impairment, especially memory impairment, is often the earliest feature of dementia. According to the Alzheimer's Society (2014), one in three people over 65 in the United Kingdom will develop dementia. The Department of Health (2013) has stressed that raising the diagnosis rates of dementia is key to helping support this group of people, their families and carers. There is a critical role for care technology to help improve the timely access to cognitive assessment and treatment for the aging population.

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