Summer is officially here, and the joy that the season brings feels sweeter than ever as we are starting to resume social activities and in-person meetings. Our vaccination efforts are working! We continue to see the numbers decline with our staff and patients. It’s fun to see our residents once again resuming social activities and group therapy, and it’s also wonderful to see the DOR meetings and celebrations return. In Good to Great, Jim Collins describes companies with the “hardiness factor” as those that are able to use great adversity to make them even stronger. You have all demonstrated the hardiness factor, and we are even better because of your extraordinary resilience. We are all looking forward to more and more togetherness in the coming months! We are, without a doubt, better together. 

Walking backward is essential in our daily life: when opening a door, backing away from a kitchen sink, stepping from the curb as a swiftly-moving bus passes, during toileting, or opening the refrigerator. An effective compensatory stepping response is the first line of defense for preventing a fall during sudden large external perturbations. Falling backwards is common among our elderly population especially with comorbidities like Parkinson’s disease and CVA. Read On...

Julia Schmutz, former DOR and now resource for Flagstone Northern California, has been brewing up some culture in her department! She got the idea from our Keystone resources when they read the book The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change. Life can be difficult at times, and our most difficult challenges often expose our resilience. We can be like the carrot that weakens in the pot or like the egg that hardens. Or, we can be like the coffee bean and discover the power inside us to transform our outlook and the world around us. 

New acquisitions are not only a great opportunity to welcome a new facility to a market and the organization but they also give us an opportunity to provide culture and clinical training opportunities. This is really important early on as we need to understand what myths or rumors therapists from other organizations might be bringing with them. (This is also important with any new hires!)

Therapy programming on the long-term units was immediately identified as an opportunity for our residents. We saw a great opportunity to meet with the therapists, and ask questions to uncover any barriers, misunderstandings or prior trainings that they might have toward therapy interventions. 

Understanding the benefits of maintenance therapy to keep residents at their highest practicable level of function was an identified area of educational opportunities. The training focused on the three things that are required to be in place to support the need for therapy services: Read On...

Over the last year, Jamie has participated in the DORiTO program, learned the daily technical, weekly skilled review, triple check process, and spent about eight weeks filling in for Nicole while she was on maternity leave. While Nicole was on leave, we learned that she would be moving her family to St. Louis so her husband could complete a medical school fellowship in pediatric ENT. Read On...

Lisa Brook, DOR at St. Joseph Villa, recently shared their new therapist/new employee training and mentorship process. As COVID continues to de-escalate, their team is beginning to focus again on leadership development and believe this process starts from the very beginning of employment at St. Joe’s. They are attempting to be more intentional about onboarding and training of new therapists as their skilled census grows and they are expanding their outpatient programing as well as their LTC programing. The therapy team at St. Joe’s is being more intentional about the hiring process with improved communication with Jamie Funk, involvement of key staff in the interview process and then setting more specific plans for the onboarding and training process. In order to grow leaders we must start with growing good therapists, mindful of their treatment approaches, seeking to make the most of their time. 

Read On...

Too often there are admissions coming into our settings with very unusually worded diets, which are unclear and difficult to understand. The IDDSI framework clarifies this and improves safety. Morgan developed a detailed, organized and decisive plan that included Care staff training, a thorough review of current diet texture, an easy-to-follow cross walk, audit processes, and continued monitoring. He also partnered with Nursing for care plan development and implementation. As a result of his efforts, his patients are safer and happier, and their quality of life has been improved. We are so grateful to have Morgan in our market. Morgan is available to answer any questions you have. Contact him at mvaughn@ensignservices.net.

Ali Vandeloo, OTR and DOR at Rock Creek of Ottawa, KS, is creating a wellness movement in her community. Ottawa is a small community in a rural area, and the Therapy team quickly identified a wellness need outside of their facility. Ali and her team developed “Discover Your Wellness” for the local ALF/ILFs in order to increase quality of life and bridge relationships along the continuum of care. They designed health screening forms that they allowed the participants to complete (see attached). 

Participants then received a Wellness Tracking Card (see attached) that gave them the status of any decline that they could bring back with them at future clinics. The keys to success for the program are:

If you have any questions, reach out to Ali at avandeloo@ensignservices.net.

The Rehab team at Westover Hills hosted a Father’s Day party and photo shoot for the second year in a row.

This year, the Father’s Day party theme was, “A Guys Weekend” with activities for fishing, lunch, and even some fake tattoos!

The video here is a tribute to the fathers who are residents of the facility.

Tiffany Daniels, RNA, like others, took on the call to work in healthcare. While many are good at their job, there are few that shine and go above and beyond. Tiffany continues to exemplify the virtues of courage, ambition and patience every day. Her patients adore her, her peers respect her, and her leadership thanks her. For that very reason, we, the rehab team of St. Elizabeth, has picked her to represent us as our chosen nurse.