hcornell

Kristy, Are you ADC or CTRS? That will help me formulate an answer to your question.

Pennie, I believe you meant the records for the charts should be signed by the qualified professional who wrote them, not certified. You do not have to be certified to write notes, etc. I agree with everyone. Do not put your attendance sheets in the charts. If your notes are current, they shouldn't need to see those anyways. I shred mine aftert survey, and start over.

Hello! As with any certification, there are many steps towards obtaining an NCCAP certification. Most persons chosethe ADC, which has several tracts you can follow. All the tracts include the following components: 1. MEPAP course (90 hours or 180 hours depending on #3 below) 2. Experience (hours in the field of senior activities) 3. Formal Education (GED or High School Diploma required PLUS college credits) 4. Continuing Education (within the last 5 years, these are your seminars, workshops...) When in doubt, always contact the NCCAP office or visit www.nccap.org Be Well! Heide

I think you are very lucky that the team will be assisting with this. Getting the residents out of restraints is the only way to go. Think of that word even. It makes the resident sound like a prisoner!!!! We are supposed to be helping them function at highest practicable level, how can that happen when they are locked in to a chair? Safety? BAH!! I call it barbaric and cruel. Do you want a seatbelt for your dining room chair? Neither do I..

I voted for the lollipops for several reasons: 1. It is done by the residents themselves, how much better can you get than to encourage the residents to utilize their abilities to run their own fundraisors 2. It is significantly low cost- compared to many other's in terms of supplies, and staff time, and effort 3. It can be repeated over and over again with each season and not get "overdone" or old. (Who would ever say "chocolate is overdone)? and finally 4> It does not take up space, or require special equipment. It can be done at a small table, and it can be sold without freaking out the decorator that you taped up the wallpaper. Though all three were lovely choices.

Hi pennie! I am not from Iowa, but I looked up some stuff, and the best I could do was this web-site: https://dia-hfd.iowa.gov/DIA_HFD/Home.do I hope it helps you, but I believe you have to create a username and password first.

My nursing home is way too large to have an in-house pet. It could very easily get lost, and because of our open floor plan, it could never avoid being in the kitchen areas. I do have families who bring their dogs regularly. One of my volunteers brings his Golden Retriever in every week, she is really a sweet animal. I also have had staff members bring in kittens and puppies. My favorite animal visit was from the exotic pet people who brought in tarantulas, owls, and a prairie dog (I'm sure that is illegal in my state, but oh well) They came about 3 years ago, I should have them come again.

bigchris, NCCAP is not an association, in the sense this post is referring. It is a certification council for activities professionals. If you are certified, you are automatically a "member". Although NCCAP supports many different associations, they do not sponsor their own "conferences". You must be referring to NAAP, which holds a conference every year. I work in SNF, and have found that each NAAP conference I attend is different. It depends on the sessions being offered, that will determine the person who will attend. Try joining your state or local group! Heide Cornell, ADC WNYAAP Vice President AALTP Corresponding Secretary NCCAP Board Member elect Proud Activities Director!

Mellissa, I am a bit worried about you getting a position as AD when you had NO previous experience for two reasons (and this is not your fault, your Admin should know better) 1. Activities is not easy Fa La La La La type of work, it takes experince, patience, and good training/education to do our jobs. 2. If you work in Long Term Care, you will and SHOULD get a deficiency for the following reason: Federal Code states very clearly about the type of person that may be an Activities Director. I will post it here for you, but if you do not meet these qualifications, AND you work in SNF, you have two options: get a consultant on the records as the overseeing AD, or quit (your boss sounds like a wack-job anyway) Here is the Regulation: F249 (Rev.) §483.15(f)(2) The activities program must be directed by a qualified professional who-- (i) Is a qualified therapeutic recreation specialist or an activities professional who-- (A) Is licensed or registered, if applicable, by the State in which practicing; and ( Is eligible for certification as a therapeutic recreation specialist or as an activities professional by a recognized accrediting body on or after October 1, 1990; or (ii) Has 2 years of experience in a social or recreational program within the last 5 years, 1 of which was full-time in a patient activities program in a health care setting; or (iii) Is a qualified occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant; or (iv) Has completed a training course approved by the State.

We are just re-starting our Resident newsletter, and we will highlight the resident of the month in there. We are starting with the RC president, and then we pretty much pick people randomly every month. I have 250 residents so I will probably do 4 each month (one from each floor) We will be asking family to bring in pictures as well for the neighborhood bulletin boards.

The question asks for their Available time for activities. If your residents are in their beds all day, and sleep for more than 1 hour at each time frame (before lunch, before dinner, after dinner) then they are coded as not awake. That does not mean; however, that in that time frame they can't participate in something either with a group or independently. You can feel comfortable coding these residents as "some of the time", since they are either participating in ADL's, are non-responsive, or sleeping the majority of the day. BTW: A Trigger does not make the facility look bad, your progress or RAPS notes should explain the behavior appropriately to the surveyors. A Trigger is meant to serve as a way to alert you and others in the facility that this person is bahaving out of normal range, and perhaps something should be done to compensate for that. Heide

I have played the Jingo games, music bingo, all color bingo, math bingo, food bingo, etc. The residents will play it as long as it is not played in replacement of good old fashioned bingo hall style bingo. When we play Jingo, we get a smaller crowd because it is much harder for them to follow.

Pennie, that is so funny. My residents did that once too. We had Chicken Soup Stories on the calendar, and some of the rehab patients said they'd listen to the stories but wanted the soup to be tomato instead! So, my staff bought a can of campbell's tomato soup the next day and served it to them for an evening snack and chat group! From now on when we have "Chicken Soup stories", we will serve the soup too. (Get's a better crowd!)

We host a special luncheon at the end of every month, we invite the resident and two of their family members or friends. They get birthday cake and ice cream there. We also play piano music in the back to make it seem like a restaraunt. The resident's enjoy the meal, and the fact they can spend the time with their loved ones. It is more meaningful than a room full of strangers. As for gifts, well we ask the family to do that and encourage them to have a special party in our activity room on the actual birthday. If the resident does not have family, they usually invite another resident friend as their guest to the luncheon. If the person hates birthdays, they do not go, and we do not force them to recognize it.

We have read the "Dear Abbey" section of the newspaper, poetry for the seasons, Helen Steiner Rice, Edgar Allen Poe, and even the "Left Behind" series. There are always great short stories on the internet as well!

This might make you laugh. I hooked up with our local university to help get the students their community service credits for graduation. The sports department got wind of it, and called to see if I would help out a few of their athletes that were in need of a work credit. I said "Sure, how fun!" OOPS! The next day, the entire women's hockey team showed up! I had to figure out what to do with 20 young ladies all at once! Well, I split them up into 3 groups (I had 3 activiites going) and it was great! The residents learned some new exercises, and made friends with the ladies. They visit and write to us! We're even going to their hockey game in March! So don't sweat it, it might be fun! Go Purple Eagles Hockey!!!

I suggest the "Sing and Swing" video collection. It combines familiar tunes with simple movements and they are very slow paced. You can buy the tapes from NASCO.

Thanks for your quick response. I like the wording of it! Heide

Hello! Congratulations, what a cool thing to get to be a part of. I have found that my younger (high-school/college) staff have a tremendous need to feel useful and purposeful. They will not partake in anything that they do not feel will benefit themselves or the "greater cause". I suggest making the presentation on power point too, because technology is their language. Include some pictures of your residents (with permission) and offer to write recommendations after so many hours of service. Make sure that once you get them at your place, you keep them busy with step by step instructions. (they can be very task-oriented, and of course easily distracted) Good Luck! Heide

Hello All! First I want to say that I am impressed with the wealth of knowlege that people have on the various topics posted every day. I am in need of some of that "expert" help. We have new executive administration (less than 6 months) and their focus seems to be on redesigning our Dementia (?) special needs unit. The members on the design team include speech/ot/pt, social work, activities, nursing, education, and our administrator. (housekeeping/dietary to join later in the process) We had our first meeting today, and the take-away assignment for next week Wednesday is to present our decription of the type of person the unit should serve. I have some ideas, but thought maybe you all could offer some suggestions or constuctive criticism. Here goes: I feel that a Special Needs Unit should serve a person with either a primary diagnosis of dementia/Alzheimers or a psyco-social diagnosis and that present the following: 1. a harm to themselves or others 2. A limited attention span with behavior disorders The resident for this unit should also have the ability to participate in ADLs with limited assist, verbal cueing, or independently and be at risk for wandering and/or elopement. I am excited about this new focus, and want to do it right, so what do you all think? Thanks in advance for the help, and I'll keep you posted on the progress as it goes along. Heide Cornell, ADC :-)

Hello, I have 250 (SNF/Dementia/sub-acute) Residents and we play Bingo 3x/week. That is plenty. We play for quarters (sometimes prizes). I always get requests for more Bingo, and based on participation, I can't justify scheduling any more than that. As I look at how often some of you are playing it, I can't help but wonder if you have ever done a participation and interest audit. If you are only getting 6-18 residents out of 72 to play, that tells you that the others ( the majority of your residents, actually) would rather be doing something else. Although Bingo is an easy program, and takes minimal energy to run, make sure you aren't forgetting about the other residents who dislike Bingo, and need other programs. You don't want to get a deficiency because you were not providing for the individual needs of all your residents! Heide

Question for the folks who highlight calendars: Sounds good, but how do you track the independant activities such as crossword puzzles, reading, internet use, watches tv, etc? I would like to get rid of the attendance form if we could find a way to get that tracked. Thanks in advance! Heide

We get our vendors to sponsor a luncheon at a local Catholic shrine. (we're a catholic facility) We print certificates on the computer, and give out company logo materials (jackets, pins, mugs) for hours of service.

Hello! I looked at my Creative Forecasting and found this: " Copyright Notice Materials may not be reproduced from Creative Forecasting except for use with your residents and in the subscibing facility newsletter. Creative Forecasting cannot be copied for any other use without our express written permission. Use discretion when using and applying these materials so you do not offend any of your readers or participants. "Any reprinting must include this endorsement: REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM CREATIVE FORECASTING, A Monthly Publication for Activity Professionals" I hope that helps a bit. Basically, it is ok just put the above on it. Heide

Hello, I happen to have a differing opinion on the charting matter. I work in LTC, and I am certified; however I feel, based on the current regulations , that as long as you have included this responsibility as part of the AA job description, then they are perfectly qualified to do the charting. (You would not have hired them otherwise). Of course as a department head, you are ultimately responsible for anything related to your department, so train them in your approved ways, and you should not have to worry. Best Regards, Heide