Nightingale Healthcare Professionals

Newspapers are full of little articles underlying the ironies of life. Did you see the story of the Mt. Pleasant, NY< driver who was so angry at another driver who passed him on the highway? Seems the angry driver caught up to with the passing car and drove beside him, swearing, honking and shaking his fist. This tirade went on until he lost control of his vehicle, rolled the car and died instantly. Then there was the young man in Lincoln, Nebraska, who stole a checkbook a...nd some identification. He went to a nearby bank to cash a check and presented his ID card, claiming he was Tim Holt. The problem was that the banker teller was the real Tim Holt and the stolen ID was his! As the saying goes, what goes around comes around. Life usually doesn’t present us with such immediate returns. Few of us commit a mean, selfish or illegal act and get feedback so instantly. My fifth-grade teacher, Alice E. McClay, said: turn-about is fair play. What are you dishing out? Is there any mystery about why you are getting what you get. Today: Give what you want to get. See more

Plenty of In-Services are held every year on universal precautions, Those procedures followed to avoid the spread of communicable disease. With the Aids epidemic and the risk of Hepatitis B always present, healthcare workers need to be rigorous in practicing infection control. In the early 1990s, New England hospitals were hit by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a virulent staph infection that defies antibiotics. Perhaps, even more, threatening to the w...ell-being of a nursing facility is another kind of staff infection, one that poisons all it comes into contact with and spreads by word of mouth. Which staff infection is that? The bad attitude. Surely you know the symptoms: difficulty smiling, heavy whispering, inability to pitch in and improve a situation. While there is no known vaccine, such staff infections can be prevented. Stay strong. Resist the temptation to tear down and hurt others. Believe in your own inherent goodness and the goodness of others. Be healthy! Today: Fight staff infections See more

The story is told that Ivory soap, the only soap that floats, was invented quite by accident. In fact the inventor was at first fired by the soap company. It seems a young man at the Ivory plant was supposed to switch the soapy soap from one tank to another. Instead he dozed, and the liquid soap was whipped much longer before it went down the line to be formed into bars. When his supervisor found him asleep at the button, he was dismissed. Weeks later, when that batch of I...vory hit the stores, consumers started to notice their soap floated in the tub! Letters poured in to the company praising this convenient improvement. The baffled managers couldn’t figure out what had happened. Following a detailed investigation, the company determined the extra stirring and whipping had pumped a lot more air into the mix. The air bubbles made the bars float! At an old hospital-turned-nursing-home, the new mother on staff had asked for any donations of baby clothes. This is my first, and I’m starting from scratch, she said. Her co-workers came through, bringing little play suits and frilly dresses to work, putting them in a box by the coffee machine. One day a wandering resident with Alzheimer’s came upon the box. She picked up a pink, lacy frock and squealed with delight! She then removed a pale blue sweater, sat down and repeatedly folded and unfolded it. From this accidental moment, the staff learned how many residents with dementia enjoy handling baby clothes. Now, a big box of play clothes is always available in the activities room for residents to touch and appreciate. Today: Look for good fortune accidents. See more

I knew our eyesight failed with age, but Lorraine, an RN, was the one who taught me how colors begin to fade and look washed out to old eyes. An administrator of a community facility she helped design and build, Lorraine was always receiving donations from families. Often mentioned in a resident’s will, her home regularly accepted gifts of cash and goods. One year Mr.Lahey, an artist who had been a resident, died and left his entire collection of hundreds of oil paintings t...o the home. Lorraine converted her facility’s halls into an art gallery and hung dozens of lovely landscapes throughout the building. Looking at these paintings day after day, Lorraine discovered something about Mr.Lahey. His early art had vibrant and varied colors, but the older the artist got, the more he painted with predominantly muted shades of green and yellow. His eyes were changing, Lorraine explained. He couldn’t see colors anymore; everything looked yellowish to him. Think of this need for bright primary colors when you’re picking out clothes for residents. If you can, make sure you dress in brilliant colors too. Today: Add a splash of color. See more

For the past seven years, Gene Seese has wondered what it was like inside the small rural nursing home. I go to school right across the street, the thirteen-year-old said, but this winter was the first time I ever went inside Stratton House. One of fourteen students participating in a service-learning project at Stratton House, Gene tends the pet fish and birds. At Maple Lane nursing home, two pet llamas magnetize folks from far and wide.. Calm, gentle creatures, they r...oam the fenced-in yard. Does your nursing facility have friendly pets that make it comfortable for visitors to drop by? Scruffy, the old Highland Terrier at Heaton House, is an excellent welcoming committee. And the two fat cats that live at Pleasant Manor Care home are always looking for a lap and a handout. At the Gill Home, Seeing Eye dogs are trained right at the facility. Residents also get a big kick out of pets. Literature produced by the AARP (the organization for retired people) declares that pets are good for your health. Summarizing the AARP position, it seems that people who care for another living being (such as a pet) always know that they themselves are needed. They know too that they must be reliable and plan for the future of the pet. Living for the future is the same as living in hope. Today: Do you welcome pets? See more

Independence is not something your residents know much about anymore. Few of them make such decisions as to when to get out of bed, whom to associate with, what to do. Staff just hum along, making decisions for everyone. Not that staff are power-hungry or mean; it’s just that it’s easier to decide for others. With so much to remember and do, acts of convenience become very attractive. Tressa Condon owns and operates, with her husband Phil, a small nursing home near the Cana...dian border. One day, Tressa said, I was walking around the home and I realized we had residents who had not been out of the building, except to go to a doctor’s appointment, in five years. I thought to myself, ‘What makes us different from a prison?’ That day Tressa decided that at least one day a year, every person in the facility-staff and residents-would leave the building and the grounds and go somewhere. When the summer day comes, a volunteer is found to answer the telephones, and the Condons and crew clear out. One year they went to the beach. Another, to a state park. One year the residents won first prize in the Fourth of July parade. Some of the riders on the float were in bed, but they were there! Today: Encourage independence. See more

If your facility had a mascot, what would it be? If you had a cheer, a motto or a secret handshake, what would it look like? Schools and sports team have such traditions, even songs and anthems they sing about themselves. Churches have rituals and routines they observe regularly with a whole calendar of special days and seasons. Look around you. What can you say about the team you serve on? Whom would you elect captain? Who would be the scorekeeper? The cheerleader? Do you... remember when the Atlanta Braves were in the World Series? The fans invented the chop : they brought their arms straight up and down imitating Indian tomahawks. Didn’t someone just dream that up? You could do the same. Watch the Boy Scouts or the Rotary Club open a meeting-plenty of little insider sayings and songs that bond the group together. I remember the first Rotary meeting I attended. A man announced he and his wife had a new baby. He passed cigars out to everyone present. Two minutes later everyone smoking a cigar was fined and the monies were paid to the club treasurer. The members loved this crazy practice, but I couldn’t figure it out. Why not invent some fun, specialized patterns and habits that your residents and staff can do together? How about a newsletter? Or buttons or baseball caps? Today: Build your team. See more

Suicides and Homicides in the homes of the rich and famous always seem to intrigue us. How could a person who has, seemingly, everything be that unhappy? As human beings, we are constantly trying to figure out if, indeed, you can tell a book by its cover. Are pretty people really better? Can money buy happiness? When families shop for nursing facilities, this question about appearances takes on great weight. Does the fancy foyer with the six-foot palm plants mean mom or dad... will get terrific attention and care? What about the lovely wallpaper? Does that mean patients don’t get sad and blue? Certainly, pleasant surroundings do influence how human beings feel. Just ask anyone who has spent time in prison. The environment does make a difference. But how much? I remember talking with the staff of a truly old building, a nursing facility that, in its prime, had been a striking Victorian mansion. Today it was like a run-down old bag lady: in need of money and care. When families come to check us out, they always talk about how old our linoleum looks and the dark, narrow hallways, the staff lamented. They talk about how the other home in town is so bright and cherry. Hearing this frustration I felt like the mother whose daughter says she wants to have a nice bike like the rich girl next door. : It isn’t fair,: she agreed. I wish I could change things. If you are working in a facility that is no showboat, remind each other that looks are only a small part of the story. More important than the set and the props are the actors and their lines. When caregivers are stars, no amount of expensive interior decoration can compare. Today: Let your light shine. See more

When an idea is a great idea, the benefits are unbelievable. Take the plant project at the Helen Porter Nursing Center in Middlebury. First, the idea was simply to have interested residents, in late winter, plant seeds in indoor pots. The tiny plants would be moved to an outdoor garden when all fear of frost had passed. In late summer someone suggested other interested residents might like to press the flowers and make stationery, lampshades and other gifts. In late summer s...omeone suggested other interested residents might like to press the flowers and make stationery, lampshades and other gifts. After that, when it was harvest time, someone suggested making relishes and chutneys with the green tomatoes and other vegetables. With all these goodies, it was a logical step to have a craft and food sale with still other interested residents serving as salesmen and -women. Today: Have a great idea. See more

A frantic telephone call from a frantic relative of a nursing facility resident one Saturday morning: They are trying to kill my mother! she cried. It seems her mother, a very ill resident, needed to be hospitalized for pneumonia. The mother didn’t want to go to the hospital or take any medicine. In health care lingo, she was refusing treatment. Following doctor’s orders, the nursing home staff called the woman’s family. What should we so? Should we grant your mother’s... wishes and keep her jere, out of the hospital and comfortable? The middle-aged daughter freaked out. To her, not doing everything medically possible to treat her mother, regardless of her mother’s wishes, was like murder! Looking into the situation, I learned the mom had been biting staff and refusing food for some time. The daughter told me sha and her father had decided to keep mom alive for as long as we can whatever it takes. There you have it. Responding to their own needs and not necessarily what their sick loved one wanted or needed, the family was mad at the caregivers. Caught in the middle, the nursing facility was cast as the bad guy. As you know, this kind of case is not that unusual. Unable or unready to deal with the loss of a mother or wife, the relatives panic and deny reality. Your job is to take caRE of your resident, being sensitive to the emotional state of the family. Not a simple assignment. Today: Help families see reality See more

When I took my son’s cub scout troop to a nursing facility one Christmas season, I was not prepared for how the young boys would visit. Elliot, my son, has grown up around nursing facilities and their residents and is incredibly at ease and natural in the presence of frail old people. When he was just four years old, we visited a community care home where an old man sat in the hallway in his wheelchair motionless. The nurse told me he was unreachable, in his own world. Le...aving Elliot in the big open hallway to push his Matchbox car, I went into a nearby room to visit with another resident. Suddenly I heard a wild hooting from the hallway. The unreachable resident was kicking the toy car to Elliot, and Elliot would rocket it back. Each trip produced a hoot from the elderly man, even a smile. The other boys in Elliot’s troop hadn’t had this early experience, so they rode the railing in the hallway that Christmas time, clearly uncomfortable about visiting the old and infirm. Bringing your children to work can be mighty important, more important than you may imagine. Not only does it perk up the residents and reconnect them with the wonderful world, but these interactions will open your children up to a lifetime of relating to old age. Kids will not be afraid of the old or of getting old. The simple act of bringing your kids into contact with your residents is one giant step for humankind. Today: Bring your kids to work. See more