fawnwhite

Thanks Jordan, I mimick your advice. For our residents that severe, I usually try to get a history from family or the individual themselves then I put together a Sensory Stim Kit just for them. Say that person was a hunter before his decline. I have a nerf gun that shoots soft discs, and I set up a target range or cut various sized holes in a sheet with different point values - they absolutely love it. You can include hunting magazines, photos, of deer, turkey, quail, different pictures of hunting dogs... There's a lot more I could add to this in the way of ideas, but I think the best advice is to custom taylor it to residents interests, instead of trying to fit the resident in to our mold.

When I'm doing a progress note, I include the following: Example: Initial Note: For ARD of 5/16/15 (whatever your ARD date is... Neighbor is a 59 year old male, alert, verbal, and oriented x 3, (or describe - ) with cognitive and communication impairment or communicates via head nods, mouthing or writing words, or grimace, (If they are - just give a description of what you see or know about the person from interview) Neighbor propels himself independently throughout the facility, enjoys eating his meals in the dining room, is social, and pleasant. His activity interests include... (put information acquired through his assessment) Enter his diagnosis, limitations and strengths, and your plan for him, i.e. Activity staff will invite to group programs of choice, provide social RV's, and leisure materials upon request, observe unstructured time, and assist with transport as appropriate, and I usually end with see POC and goal for further information - and make sure what you write in your progress notes matches up with your care plans! Hope this helps! Fawn from PA

Hello, I'm also about to finish the MEPAP1 and have found it to be an interesting challenge, especially pertaining to time management. Juggling a 40+ hour work week, family, home, school, has been a bitter sweet experience for me, but time has passed quickly and I too find myself near the course completion. There's a sense of accomplishment that I have and I really like that feeling, it's like finishing a painting, standing back pleased with your work, and saying it's done!

Hi, my name is Fawn and I've worked in the Activity Department at a skilled nursing facility in Pennsylvania for 2 1/2 years. I spent 12 years as a Corporate/Private Event Planner, I'm a people person, an artist by trade, who loves to be creative in my job. I think it's important to be light hearted and approachable, compassionate, warm, and inviting. I love planning special events at our facility that are totally over the top, kick everything up a notch, and involve everyone in the facility to partake! I look forward to exchanging ideas on this forum, educating and connecting myself with others more experienced in this field.