QTPitootyFL

Hi, I am writing this on behalf of a friend of mine who has just relocated to the South Florida area from NY. She is a Master's level CTRS and for the last 10+ years she has been working in the same facility as an Activity Coordinator on the SNF unit, with a total of 15 years of experience in total. For more information please contact: Shira Levey, MA CTRS Sheebs569@AOL.com She's awesome Give her a call, Stacey

We had a talent show and the DON and I replicated the old bit from I Love Lucy where she meets Harpo Marx, and does the whole mirror bit. For the 2 of us this was especially funny because she is 5'2 and black and I am a 5'8 1/2 white woman. The residents and staff all howled, and the residents all remembered it from I Love Lucy. If you want to see the bit... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Th2dnSsXw If its done well, its pretty cute Stacey

Russel, Thank you SO much. I just dropped Harvey a line. In rereading my post about him moving, I see it is dated 7/30. WOW- its been a year since Marsha passed away!! I appreciate you sharing the website info. Stacey

Well, I came, I saw, and I conferenced. I got gome today around 2:30 (was happy to see my bed- oh yeah- and my family...LOL) with 3 bags filled with goodies. Thanks AD.net for the CD. It was nice to see some of your faces. All the vendors were great- bought some great books- including a great resource by Marge Knoth (I have another one of hers & love it) who was there and signed my copy for me. The sessions I went to were all quite educational, and the closing address by Debbie Afasano- AKA Ima Famlimember- was the funniest ever. what a great way to end a great week. Kudos to my home state for helping to orchestrate such a great event. The LAC did a great job. The Glass Slipper Ball was breathtaking. Congrats to our (Florida's) own Christopher Bobos for winning the award for NAAP's Activity Professional of the Year. Hope to see ya'll in New Mexico in 2009!! Stacey

How about an 80's TV themed table? You've got the Golden Girls, Family Ties, St. Elsewhere, Miami Vice, Three's Company, All in the Family, and Dallas to name a few. you know- The Golden Girls alone is enough for a table theme. Then there were Cabbage Patch Kids, Big Hair Bands, Neon Colors, Trivial Persuit, Spuds McKenzie, Designer Jeans, Jelly Shoes, Michael Jackson, break dancing, Hawaiian Shirts and Jams shorts, Flash dance, Smurfs, and friendship bracelets and friendship pins. (wow what a scary time....lol) Hope this gave you some ideas. Stacey (Proud HS graduate class of '85)

I will be there with bells on 4-28 - 5-3 Stacey

I suppose that with 3 FT Activity Assistants, I am a fortunate AD. The 3 of them take turns on the holidays- they have to work 2 out of 3 for the summer holidays (memorial, july 4th and labor day) and 2 out of 3 winter (thanksgiving, christmas, and new years). We have 167 beds and I cannot close the department for the holidays. Its not fair to the residents. The rotate in just fine, and in my 4 years at this facility there has never been an arguement or problem. I plan a full days events- usually something light like christmas bingo in the afternoon and a hot cocoa and cookie social in the AM with a carol sing-a-long. I think holidays are when our residents may need us most- for the ones who lost spouses, whose children don't visit, and the ones who need the sensory stim and reminiscence therapy. Enough rambling... Stacey

Well, I guess I am a late entry on this one, but I use the centerfold of A New Day magazine for my calendar, which is already 11 x 17. I too can make 300 of those at work (for a 170 bed facility) and then I go to Kinko's for my oversized copies- 1 that is 300% of the original and 3 that are 250%. I make the copes myself (cheaper, let them show you how) and I also have an educator savings/discount card that I signed up for on-line. My calendars run me approx $20.00 a month. A New Day usually has pretty graphics along the side/top so on the last day of the previous month I have a group of ladies who are "good colorers" help me by coloring the pictures with marker. The calendars with the colored construction paper on the bulletin board comes out looking quite nice, if I must say so myself, LOL. Hope this helps. Stacey

Hi everyone... This post is mainly for AD's in the South Florida area. For those of you who had the pleasure of knwing Harvey Sheppard, entertainer... I just got off the phone with him. His wife Marsha passed away this morning and he is cancelling all of his dates through the end of the year. Harvey is moving from Florida- to TX briefly, then to Lake Tahoe. I have had the pleasure of knowing Harvey professionally for almost 9 years and I am also his neighbor. He will be missed by many, I am sure. Stacey

I have a question, and I am sorry if this is beaten to death, but my DON stopped me with this today and it made me question myself. Responses can be e-mailed to me as well, lol, cause I will probably see that before I remember to check here... QTPitootyFL@bellsouth.net When exactly is a quarterly note due? Let's say I get my list this week of who I need to put in MDS for. I also get a list of who I will have care plan mtgs for (the people I did MDS for last week). Normally I (and usually the social worker) write the quarterly notes either the morning of the meeting, before the afternoon mtg. This comes from the DON out of the blue after I have been there a little over a year. She says this is a state citation. Is this info documented anywhere? Is there a link someone can send? DON says the note has to be done at the same time I do the assessment/MDS on the computer. Help please, S----

Briggs has an excellent Activity Attendance Sheet Clickie for Sensory Stimulation Attendance Documentation Clickie for Monthly Participation record Here is Briggs' Home Page... Clickie Clickie You can also call at 1-877-307-1744 and they will fax you free samples of any forms you want to get a better look at. Hope it helps! :-D Stacey P.S. The AD before me used to do the hi-liter coding thing and got tagged from the state surveyors.

I don't even know how to begin to post this. I am in a bind. I have been the AD in a facility for 9 months now. I have 3 Assistants- 2 FT and 1 PT for 145 beds. Unfortunately, due to the endless flow of meetings and assessments, MDS, etc, I cannot be counted on in the mix to do as many activities as I would like. Anyway- my 2 FT have been in the building 22 (as a CNA 1st) and 15 years respectively. Both are really tight with the HR manager who has been there for almost 30 years. Here is my frustration- the AD before me was really clueless as to regs and calendar variety and she skated by for the 10 years she was there until a new Administrator came and called her on her incompetancies and terminated her. When I came I started scheduling things like "word game" rather than "word pull" which was the AD's only word game she knew. My Asst ( I will never forget) asked me what a word game was. As far as sensory stim, it wasn;t happening. I have repeatedly tried to tell and show them what I am after and what to do, but it is NOT happening. I also tell them if it is on the schedule IT HAS TO GET DONE. (with an occasional exception, of course) I have inserviced, trained, taught until I am blue in the face. My administrator praises them all the time, and says show them, they like you they are eager to learn. I am so SO frustrated by this. They are clueless... not internet savvy- so when I have a reminiscing or a biography about the war or an actor etc etc... I have to do all the on-line research. They refuse to go to the library on their own time and borrow books. ( I did as an assistant, I did work at home, often) There is so much more! I know this is long, but I guess I just really need to vent. Any imput would help greatly. Please don't think I am nuts altogether, LOL. E-mail me QTPitootyFL@bellsouth.net if you need to... thanks all. Stacey