Tidbits from Pennsylvania!

Hello everyone,

Here are a few more tidbits from your fellow nurses and nursing assistants working in Pennsylvania nursing homes. Thanks for sharing your ideas and approaches to care! We all benefit from everyone’s experiences and successes.

Joyce Sebring, who works at St. Mary’s Villa in Pennsylvania, shared her approach for dealing with restless residents. She likes to give them something to do pertaining to their hobby/job, such as paperwork for a former secretary, an old lamp to fix for an electrician, and building blocks (PVC piping is good too!) for a carpenter. Joyce also uses memory games she finds in stores that address sight, smell and touch. Looking at memory books made by family members can also help calm a person who is restless.

We liked that this idea tailors staff response to the behavior through recognition of the residents’ past work and hobby preferences.

Next….

Janice Sparrow (pictured below) is an RN at Linwood. When a resident is calling out for a family member, she gives him/her a picture album of the resident’s family for the resident to look through.  We like the clear and direct link between behavior and positive response by the staff.

What about aggression? At the Meadows, Jennifer Merthew (pictured below) talks with residents to calm them and allows the residents to talk about what is upsetting them. Her advice is to never ignore the emotions of the resident, but rather encourage expression of feelings in a safe location such as their room or another quiet spot. We like the honoring of a resident’s voice in this response, specifically listening to the resident and “never ignoring” that they are communicating an emotional need to us.

Melissa Neishell, RN (pictured below) has had residents who scratch and pick at their skin. She recommends changing their detergent and/or hygiene products and creating a cooler environment.  We like the consideration of physical causes here, and that you are not overlooking the obvious. This is the “I” in DICE. Nice job everyone and have a great week!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *