Nightingale Healthcare Professionals

17/03/2022

Certified Nurses Day: March 19, 2022

According to the American Nurses Credentialing Center, “Certified Nurses Day™ is an annual day of recognition for and by healthcare leaders dedicated to nursing professionalism, excellence, recognition, and service. Every March 19, employers, certification boards, education facilities, and healthcare providers celebrate and publicly acknowledge nurses who earn and maintain the highest credentials in their specialty. Certified Nurses Day™ honors nurses worldwide who contribute to better patient outcomes through national board certification in their specialty.”

16/03/2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja-dg89wr-s

A little redneck humor. A Redneck has a emergency, see wht he does

16/03/2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IisgnbMfKvI

Proper hand hygiene is the most important thing you can do to prevent the spread of germs and to protect yourself and others from illnesses. When not done ca...

16/03/2022

Cpr classes weekly. Call us at 510-553-1800

16/03/2022

Now registering for April CNA day class. Scholarships available. $500 off tuition. Call us at 510-553-1800. Limited seats.

20/03/2020

Spring Class Schedule - https://mailchi.mp/38d53f7c0298/spring-class-schedule

This is a 160 hour training: 60 hours of theory and 100 hours of clinical. Click the dates below to see a draft calendar for each program. Click here for the detailed application.

21/11/2019

Every society has its own way of meeting the needs of the vulnerable.
In this country, the responsibility for the frail has continued to shift from the family to the government. Once people took care of old relatives at home. Now, with women working, children and aging parents are sent to daycare. Many of the elderly end up in nursing facilities.
Few of us are prepared to pay our way in an institution. No matter how frugal we’ve been, it’s doubtful we have $57,000 in the bank for a year of nursing facility care. Without means, needy old folks end up going onto welfare. Welfare, for most Americans, is a dreaded system. Your patients probably worked long and hard all their lives, never depending on a handout or the government dole. To end up poor and sick is not part of anyone’s plan.
In England, a special association exists to provide money for similarly afflicted elders. The organization, known by the wonderful name Distressed Gentlefolks’ Aid Association, caters to members of grand families down on their luck.
Isn’t that name beautiful? It is so dignified and respectful! It hardly clangs of “public assistance” or “welfare.” Aiding distressed gentlefolk sounds so delicate.
Many of the people you care for don’t know they are totally dependent on the government to pay the bills. Such an announcement would crush their pride, their sense of self-worth. You don’t deal with the billing; you can remain pure and neutral in the delivery of care. Everybody is treated equally under your hands. In fact, you can simply see yourself as aiding distressed gentlefolk who are down on their luck. That’s a position any of us can find ourselves in.
Today: Aid distressed gentlefolk.

19/11/2019

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.

12/11/2019

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 someone 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.

07/11/2019

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 stationary, lamp shades and other gifts.
In late summer someone suggested other interested residents might like to press the flowers and make stationery, lamp shades, 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.

05/11/2019

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

31/10/2019

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.”
Leaving 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.

29/10/2019

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 and 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.

24/10/2019

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 well-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

22/10/2019

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 Ivory 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.

17/10/2019

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 to 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.

15/10/2019

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 roam 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?