LisaRee

Hi Helen...I may have someone who can help you out. My mother-in-law volunteers at several nursing homes now that she is retired and she just happens to be in the same area you are in. She has been an activity consultant for years and works closely with a few activity directors in your area. Maybe she could help you out. Email me at LisaReeMV@aol.com

Jerusha, sounds like you have it made! How I miss the days of working in a small facility. When I first started as an activity aide 8 years ago we were small...just 45 beds. Now we are a 160 bed facility and that doesn't include our skilled unit. I miss being able to sit down with a resident for as long as they wanted me there. You said something about telling the family about med changes that may need to be made. If our D.O.N. heard that come out of my mouth she would die of a heart attack! It's just always been my understanding that activities is to never discuss any nursing issues with family..thats why we have nurses. If I did have a concern about a residents meds I would go to the nurse, then they discuss med changes with family and the Dr. Maybe things are alittle different where you are though. Good luck!

Hey thanks! I like it...I like it alot! I'll try it and see if my folks like it too.

Hi Musiclady, Lisa from Gulfport, Ms here. I can't speak for other AD's but as for myself I see nothing wrong with you raising your rates alittle. If the entertainment you provide is truly benificial to the fecilities you go to then I see no reason why an AD wouldn't be willing to pay extra to have you there. It's ironic that you posted that question because just yesterday I had a gospel entertainer who has been coming for nearly 4 years now call me aside in my office and ask for some compensation for his entertainment. In the past when him and his wife came I would sometimes offer them money because they are truly worth it and our residents absolutely love them. I had no problem giving what little cash I had in activity funds ($14.00) to keep them coming back. I have to admit I was alittle shocked that he asked, but all in all, with the prices of gas these days I can understand completely. Hope this helps you out some, Lisa

Hi GC, I have that same problem with my skilled resident careplanning. I just make sure that in their progress notes I always mention that their time for most scheduled programs is limited due to therapy and resting. (which is true) I then go on to list the activities that they DO participate in. (Social functions, religious services, TV in room, music...whatever it is that they do). That's where your participation records come in VERY handy for you to look back and see who is doing what. You didn't mention if you are doing all this yourself or if you have activity aides. I tell my aides constantly, "If it isn't charted...it wasn't done". As for plays, I'm pretty sure that it was a NASCO catalog that I saw a book of plays in. If it wasn't Nasco then it was S&S Worldwide. Both have websites. I would love to do something like that here but unfortunately alot of our residents are very low functioning right now. Hope some of this helps you. T.G.I.F. :-) LisaRee

I'm on top of that, Mr BartMan. SInce I've been here I've always worked on the fourth but this year I'm taking vacation time. Thing is, I have nowhere to go. Oh well!

I appreciate all the feedback. I decided that "honesty is the best policy" so I sat down with her and had a good talk. I explained everything to her and asked her to modify her entertainment towards our residents...sing old gospel songs that they can get involved in too...and she did just that but still not singing well. This time she brought in opinion cards for my activity aides to fill out and they were completely honest with her also. She hasn't called to set up a date for July...hmmmmm Bart in Tally...WOW 16 years, huh? I've been at my facility for nearly 9 years. Wanna let me in on some secrets of avoiding burn-out? I could realy use it right about now!

One of the first things I tell a potential hire is that I need someone who is able to take initiative to do what needs to be done without having to be told. It takes a special kind of person to do a great job in any activity department and it's been my finding that not everyone is able to do it. Another thing that I tell them is that I need someone with some imagination. If an activity aide has no imagination and is unable to improvise (God knows, things go wrong) then I don't think they would last long in my department especially if I have to hold their hand throughout the day. When I inservice my AA's I go over the above two topics then throw in a few extra things such as adaptive materials for residents with special needs and how simple everyday items can be used to adapt an activity for residents who are unable to use one side of their body or another. Alot of activity duties is just using alot of gool ole common sense...and I've found that alot of folks don't have much of that either! Good luck!

Hi. We also have a restorative program at our facility but it is done by nursning and CNA's. I know for a fact that some of our residents who are not in restorative go to exercise with the group who is. I don't see anything wrong with that. One idea for you would be to set your exercise to music...something from their generation with a good upbeat tempo seems to work for our restorative team. Hope I was some help.

Hi everyone. One of my female residents just lost her spouse of 60 yrs. They shared a room in our facility for the last three years. We always had a difficult time getting her to participate because she felt she needed to stay in the room and look after her husband, and of course, we respected her wishes on this issue. I'm afraid that now that he is gone she will decline quickly. Any ideas on careplanning on her? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Howdy from Gulfport, Ms! Stick around...This is a VERY useful forum.

I know what you mean about having all sorts of troubles in all sorts of areas. I read above that someone had problems with CNAs not bringing residents down. My problem is that our CNAs bring down EVERYBODY to almost EVERY activity. Don't get me wrong, I know these people need the interaction, but bringing a resident who is tube fed to a social event where food is served is downright wrong! They just don't seem to understand and throw that, "It's their right to be here" at me. Well, bull! I find alot of staff, including nurses, have no idea what residents rights are about. We provide a variety of activities for both high and low functioning residents, as well as try our best to keep alot of our activities individualized. Another troubled area I have is always butting heads with nurses when it comes to dietary. I understand that we have our cardiac, diabetic, etc diets for a reason. If a resident is diabetic and asks for a piece of regular cake isn't it their right to have it if they are aware of their condition and can make that decision for themselves? Sometimes I feel like it's a never ending battle in several areas. grrrrr!

Hats off to Casey for going to school AND taking care of a child! My name is Lisa (LisaRee) and I am activity director at Lakeview Nursing Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. I have been employeed here for 9 years. 4 years as an activity aide and 5 years as activity director. I have two boys, ages 11 and 15 who give me hell on a daily basis so going to work and doing somthing that I love as much as I do has been quite a blessing for me. I also have an activity staff of 7 aides who are the heart of our activity program. As activity director it's my goal to do what I can for each resident to make sure that their last days here are full of love, tenderness, smiles and laughter. I absolutely love to make people laugh and the good thing about my job is that I can make a total fool of myself in front of my residents and to see the smiles on their faces is priceless. I'm not above dressing up (I love dress-up!) like a clown, Mrs Clause, an elf or anything else I can and dance around the activity room...my residents love it! I truly believe that a job like ours has to be a calling. If someone's just looking for a paycheck they should go elsewhere. "That's all I got to say bout that" :-)

I never turn down any entertainer who volunteers their time for my residents. but I have a serious problem with one certain entertainer who is ABSOLUTELY aweful! She comes complete with a small 1970's guitar amp and a very small cd player that most of our residents can't hear. I could overlook those things and have offered our stereo for her music, but the thing that I can not over look is the fact that my residents do not like her and any high functioning residents leave the activity room as soon as she starts singing. Her flyers promise a "Toe tapping good time", but her performance is far from that. I've tried to explain to her that she should try singing some songs that the residents know and maybe that would keep them awake, but she seems to not want to try anything different. Is is ok to tell a volunteer that we don't need her services?

Our outings range anywhere from just getting on the bus to go for icecream to casino outings complete with buffet lunch. With the weather like it is we're doing alot of sitting on the porch in the afternoons. It's a great opportunity for reminiscing activities as well as short stories or just enjoying the breeze. Either way, you can't go wrong. Oh, and with fresh veggies coming in we also enjoy snapping beans on the front porch in the morning. Yee Haw