Complaint #2: The Food Where is the Emeril of nursing home food? It’s time to kick things up a notch. There’s a huge opportunity for improvement in the quality, number of choices, and presentation of the food in nursing homes, and to affect the satisfaction of the residents with their meals. A good start is … Read more
Complaint #1: No One Coming When the Call Bell is Pressed I’ve worked on units where the moment the call bell goes off, the charge nurse immediately and calmly asks an aide to check on the room. The bell goes off, someone arrives. Simple customer service. This leads to a unit full of residents who … Read more
I refer my residents to therapeutic activities every day. I consider them a vital adjunct to my work as a psychologist. Here’s why: Therapeutic recreation reverses the downward spiral of depression. There’s a theory that when we’re depressed, we stop doing the things we enjoy, thus leading to more depression. In order to become less … Read more
The phone rang mid-session with Velma. Knowing the frail 87-year old was fiercely independent, I refrained from handing her the telephone, and watched as she slowly wheeled herself toward her side table. Ring… She was halfway there. Ring… She reached out with an unsteady arm. The phone wobbled in her grasp as she held it … Read more
Recent psychology research* showed reduced levels of agitation in nursing home residents with dementia, some to the point of not being considered agitated at all. This promising study used a structured yes/no list to find the types of activities the residents found pleasurable either now or in the past, such as listening to jazz music … Read more
My civic-minded in-laws created a dining companion program at their Continuing Care Retirement Community. Couples invite singles who sign up for the program to share a meal with them, fostering a flow between community members and helping to bridge the divide that often develops between the two groups once a spouse is lost. As my … Read more
An iatrogenic illness is one which results from health care treatment, and iatrogenic depression is typically a side effect of medication. I take a broader view of “treatment” and think of iatrogenic depression as a customer service failure. I see nursing home residents who have become depressed as a result of interactions with staff that … Read more
“You’re bleeding, Mr. Ramsey! Go upstairs with your aide!” The nurse’s well-meaning directive was falling upon deaf ears. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere until I get my money!” Mr. Ramsey clutched a tissue to his bloody lip with one hand and waved his other hand around in a fist. The aide took hold of the handle … Read more
In a staff meeting the other day, the social worker mentioned her new resident was having difficulty because he didn’t speak any English. It was arranged that the director of the Dietary Department would go up to act as translator. “I know a website where you can get language cue cards with health-related words on … Read more
I’ve read Leslie Curtin’s story three times and it still makes me cry. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a man admitted status post CVA (after a stroke). He was never going to recover to the point where his wife could take him home since he was a 2 person assist to do anything and couldn’t … Read more