IN THIS ISSUE
Your Success Stories
Announcement
Projects & Initiatives
Events
From our Partners
In the News
Stay connected!
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We'd like to take this opportunity to wish you a safe holiday season, and a happy and healthy New Year.
Please note the NBANH office will close at 5 pm on Thursday, December 23rd, 2021, and will re-open on Tuesday, January 4th, 2022. If there is an emergency, please communicate with Mike Keating at mkeating@nbanh.com or (506) 440-6245.
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COVID-19: Rapid tests saved lives at Villa Renaissance
By Janique LeBlanc, Radio Canada
COVID-19 took six residents and an employee of Villa Renaissance in Dalhousie in October. A series of measures, including rapid tests, however, made it possible to contain the spread of the virus. On October 11, two employees of the Villa Renaissance tested positive for COVID-19. The fourth wave then begins to be felt in this 90-bed nursing home. Management immediately implemented its plan. A COVID unit is established. The outbreak management rapid response team is dispatched to the scene. Fearing that they might be understaffed, management called on the New Brunswick Continuing Care Safety Association, an organization serving 70 nursing homes, for help.
Systematic rapid tests
The NBCCSA established a new and critical step in managing this outbreak: the systematic use of rapid tests to screen employees and residents. So, every day before their shift, employees undergo a quick test. Those who work in the COVID unit also take a quick test at the end of their day. "By putting in the rapid tests, it really made a difference" says Denise Paradis, Director of the NBCCSA.
Find asymptomatic cases
The PCR polymerase chain reaction test results take 24 hours to obtain, sometimes longer. It is too long. The rapid tests identified several asymptomatic employees before they spread the virus. An employee who tested negative in the evening tested positive the next day. She was sent home to await a PCR polymerase chain reaction test, which confirmed she was positive. She had no symptoms, says Denise Paradis. The rapid tests have also made it possible to detect infected residents.
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Save lives
Villa Renaissance Director Diane Léger is convinced that rapid testing has isolated those infected quickly before they infect others. Fourteen residents and 11 employees of the Villa Renaissance contracted COVID 19 last October, during the fourth wave. Six residents and one worker died of the disease early in the outbreak. Eight residents screened through rapid tests were cured despite the virulence of the virus.
(In the photo from left to right: Denise Paradis, Marjorie Belzile of the New Brunswick Continuing Care Safety Association and Alain Belzile (volunteer) at the COVID-19 rapid test station during the outbreak Villa Renaissance.)
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Nursing Home Without Walls: Provincial Health Plan Details Services to Help Seniors Stay in their Homes
New initiatives that will help seniors stay in their homes for as long as possible are included in the new provincial health-care plan, Stabilizing Health Care: An Urgent Call to Action.
“Currently, nearly one in three hospital beds are occupied by seniors who could be experiencing a better quality of life if they had access to services tailored to their specific needs,” said Social Development Minister Bruce Fitch. “This program will help ensure seniors have improved access to the health and social support they need to live as independently as possible for as long as possible.”
Fitch announced today, during an event at Loch Lomond Villa in Saint John, that supporting seniors to age in place, meaning at their homes, is one of the five action areas outlined in the government’s health plan.
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Fitch said the Nursing Homes Without Walls program was funded through the Healthy Seniors Pilot Project and has been successful in four locations in southeastern New Brunswick and the Acadian Peninsula. The program extends some of the services available in nursing homes to seniors who are still living at home. The Healthy Seniors Pilot Project is a $75-million partnership with the federal government aimed at supporting government and community initiatives that align with and support the efforts of New Brunswick’s Aging Strategy and other government priorities, including researchers, non-profit organizations, businesses, First Nations communities and municipalities. Click here to keep reading the News Release by GNB.
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Encouraging note from Eric Beaulieu, Deputy Minister
On November 19th, Mike Keating received an email from Eric Beaulieu, Deputy Minster, Social Development, that he would like to share with you:
"Just saw the CBC article and wanted to send a quick to recognize and applaud the commitment of the Board of NBANH as well as the leadership of the 71 homes across the province to doing all that is possible to protect the health of our seniors."
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If you would like to share a story with the nursing home sector, please send your Success Stories to Mélanie Eva.
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Mélanie Martin is now the Director of Operations at NBANH! |
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We are very pleased to inform the sector that Mélanie Martin has been promoted to the position of Director of Operations for NBANH! Mélanie has been with us for almost 10 years and during that time assumed increasingly more complex files. Since the departure of our other two Assistant Directors, she has taken on many of their responsibilities.
We are very happy for Mélanie and wish her well in her new position. I hope you join me in my confidence that you will be well served by her into the future.
Keep it up Mel!
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Promoting the EFAP
To mark our one year anniversary with LifeWorks services (previously known as Morneau Shepell), the NBANH wanted to take this opportunity to relaunch the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EAFP) with the new branding, give you tips on how to promote your EFAP to your team and host live webinars for managers and employees. Click here to read the full communication sent on December 6th, 2021.
Live Orientation for Nursing Home Staff & Managers
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PROJECTS & INITATIVES
Recruitment and Retention Update
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Lunch & Learn - Save the Date
January 11 at 12:00
On January 11th at noon, we will be hosting a Lunch & Learn to chat about International Recruitment and the new Internationally Educated Nurse (IEN) Unit under the Department of Health with special guests Jake Arbuckle & Robb Parker.
Jake is the Director of the Health Workforce Planning branch and Robb works as the IEN Navigator with the same branch. This is an opportunity to learn about the IEN navigation system with the province, and upcoming improvements to how the province supports IENs, as well as employers.
Click here to register today! Please don’t forget to click “ add to your calendar” when you register for the lunch & learn! This option will appear in your registration confirmation email.
Upcoming Recruitment & Retention Survey
An R& R survey will be circulated January 12, 2022. Deadline for completion will be January 26, 2022! This survey is the longer version that asks about recent hires, as well as other ongoing recruitment supports. This data is extremely important and is used to report back to Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour (PETL) so that the NBANH can continue to receive funding to implement the recruitment strategy. Past surveys have had a great response rate and we thank you in advance for your participation!
For more information regarding NBANH's Recruitment and Retention efforts, please contact Cassandra Folkins, Research and Project Coordinator, by email at cfolkins@nbanh.com or by calling the NBANH office at 506-460-6262. |
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Nursing Home Administration Group Meeting
Save the Date
Please note that the Nursing Home Administration Group Winter Meeting will be hosted on February 9th and 10th, 2022.
Stay tuned for more information.
Happy Holidays,
Linda Boudreau
President, Administration Group Meeting
Administrator, Tabusintac Nursing Home
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AGM & Virtual Conference
May 18th & 19th, 2022
The AGM Business Meeting will be hosted the afternoon of May 18th, 2022 on Zoom.
On May 19th, 2022, NBANH is thrilled to host a Virtual Conference using the EventMobi platform. Our theme is Rising from the Turbulence: Inspiring Leadership for the next 50 years! This Virtual Conference will offer a full day of insightful speaker presentations, as well as a chance to network with Sponsors and Exhibitors while playing online games to win prizes!
Stay tuned for more information.
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NB Dementia Friendly Initiative Update
Collaborative for Healthy Aging and Care
The New Brunswick Dementia Friendly Initiative team have been busy meeting with communities and building partnerships with local organizations and businesses. In the coming weeks, we will be rolling out the project in the communities of Saint John, Hanwell, and Oromocto. Stay tuned to hear about the initiatives that these communities will be working on!
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We are very pleased to announce our new partnership with The Sleep Kit. The Sleep Kit is a box of sleep alternative therapies for people living with dementia. People living with dementia often struggle with their nighttime routine because they may not have the ability to fulfil that routine as they always did. For more information on the Sleep Kit, visit their website.
Each community that is participating in the Dementia Friendly initiative will receive one Sleep Kit. The steering committees will have the opportunity to decide how they want to use the Sleep Kit. For example, they may want to use it as a door prize at a community event or gift it to a family or person in need.
If you are interested in hearing more about project activities or community events, visit our Facebook page. We will be posting community events and initiatives, education and training opportunities, etc.
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If you have success stories, questions, comments, or other submission ideas, please forward them to Melanie Eva by at meva@nbanh.com or by phone (460-6262).
Sincerely,
The NBANH Team
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New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes Inc.
1133 Regent street, office 206 Fredericton, NB, E3B 3Z2
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