AUGUST 2012 VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 8 FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK Welcome to the residents and staff of Sunrise Heights of Wauneta. It is truly the mark of a great community that “stepped up to the plate” and kept their nursing home. We are also excited that the community of Callaway has made it possible to help their nursing home. More to come, stay tuned... If you get a chance to go through Sharon Springs, Kansas, please stop in and see their beautiful brand new facility. This is a huge com- mitment by the folks of Wallace Coun- ty. A special thank you to all of our board members for their continued support and hard work that they give every month to their community. Best Regards, Ron Ross, President From Your Community: THE RURAL REPORT A Rural Health Development Publication www.rhdconsult.com www.facebook.com/RHDConsult www.linkedin.com/company/rural-health-development Find RHD Online! Keeping residents safe from infection means more than just hand- washing. Everyone working in health care knows the drill: wash your hands before entering, between treatments and when leaving a resident’s room to decrease the spread of infectious pathogens. Proper hand hygiene is the most important weapon in the fight against the spread of infection, but contamination in the near-resident en- vironment - the hard surfaces likely to be touched frequently by the resident, visitors and practitioners- is also a very real issue. It is important to focus on both the hands and the contaminated environment. Think about how hard surfaces are touched. It is obvious it is much easier to contaminate solid, flat, hard surfaces, and for those bugs to remain on those surfaces. This means a more vigilant cleaning in the resident envi- ronment by housekeeping is crucial. Maintain proper cleaning techniques and looking harder at surfaces where bacteria will be found. To do the job right includes using friction to clean; not just painting on a disinfectant, but actually scrubbing using good old el- bow grease. Health care workers need to be especially vigilant by using correct hand hygiene and ensuring the environ- ment is adequately and appropriately cleaned. WIPING OUT THE SPREAD OF INFECTION Sue Booe, R.N. & Rozanne Phillips, R.N. RHD Nursing Consultants Exerts from Advance for Long-Term Care Management, June 2012 This section is personal- ized for each facility that we manage. Each month they provide their own content and we send the monthly newsletter to their community mem- bers. Many other communities take this opportunity to learn more about what other facilities are doing. Updates, activities, cel- ebrations, and more are commonly shared. Providing Excellent Health Care Services for Over 20 Years
Transcript
AUGUST 2012 VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 8
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK Welcome to the residents and staff of Sunrise Heights of Wauneta. It is truly the mark of a great community that “stepped up to the plate” and kept their nursing home. We are also excited that the community of Callaway has made it possible to help their nursing home. More to come, stay tuned... If you get a chance to go through Sharon Springs, Kansas, please stop in and see their beautiful brand new facility. This is a huge com-mitment by the folks of Wallace Coun-ty. A special thank you to all of our board members for their continued
support and hard work that they give every month to their community.
Best Regards,Ron Ross, President
From Your Community:
THERURAL REPORTA Rural Health Development Publication
Keeping residents safe from infection means more than just hand-washing. Everyone working in health care knows the drill: wash your hands before entering, between treatments and when leaving a resident’s room to decrease the spread of infectious pathogens. Proper hand hygiene is the most important weapon in the fight against the spread of infection, but contamination in the near-resident en-vironment - the hard surfaces likely to be touched frequently by the resident, visitors and practitioners- is also a very real issue. It is important to focus on both the hands and the contaminated environment. Think about how hard surfaces are touched. It is obvious it is much easier to contaminate solid, flat, hard surfaces, and for those bugs to remain
on those surfaces. This means a more vigilant cleaning in the resident envi-ronment by housekeeping is crucial. Maintain proper cleaning techniques and looking harder at surfaces where bacteria will be found. To do the job right includes using friction to clean; not just painting on a disinfectant, but actually scrubbing using good old el-bow grease. Health care workers need to be especially vigilant by using correct hand hygiene and ensuring the environ-ment is adequately and appropriately cleaned.
WIPING OUT THE SPREAD OF INFECTION
Sue Booe, R.N. & Rozanne Phillips, R.N.RHD Nursing Consultants
Exerts from Advance for Long-Term Care Management, June 2012
This section is personal-ized for each facility that we manage. Each month they provide their own content and we send the monthly newsletter to their community mem-bers.
Many other communities take this opportunity to learn more about what other facilities are doing. Updates, activities, cel-ebrations, and more are commonly shared.
Providing Excellent Health Care Services for Over 20 Years
National Assisted Living Week is September 9-15. Established by Na-tional Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) in 1995, National Assisted Living Week® provides a unique opportunity for residents, families, staff, volunteers, and the surrounding community to come together to give residents a vari-ety of exciting events and activities that show them how much you care about and love them. The 2012 theme is Art for the Ages. To make planning as easy as possible, the NCAL has put together a guide, you can view it here: http://www.ahcancal.org/ncal/events/Docu-ments/2012%20NALW%20Guide%20for%20Web.pdf
National Senior Citizens Day, August 21st, honors our elderly popu-lation. On this day, we are encouraged to recognize and show appreciation for the value and contribution of el-derly people to home, family and soci-ety. In his Presidential Proclama-tion (August 19, 1988), President Ronald Reagan said “For all they have achieved throughout life and for all they continue to accomplish, we owe older citizens our thanks and a heart-felt salute. We can best demonstrate our gratitude and esteem by making sure that our communities are good places in which to mature and grow older.”
On National Senior Citizens Day, we should:• Spend some time with senior citi-
zens• Show our appreciation for senior
citizens• Do volunteer work in support of
the elderly
If you are a senior citizen, en-joy your day any way you desire. After all, this is your day! Make sure to take advantage of senior citizens specials and discounts. There’s bound to be plenty offers today.
The Affordable Care Act strengthens Medicare and helps seniors take charge of their health. The law pro-vides important benefits such as free preventive services, free annual wellness visits, and a 50% discount on prescrip-tion drugs for Medicare recipients in the coverage gap known as the “donut hole.” You can also work with your doc-tor to create a personalized prevention plan.
Top Things to Know for Seniors:• Under the health care law, your ex-
isting guaranteed Medicare-covered benefits won’t be reduced or taken away. Neither will your ability to choose your own doctor.
• Nearly 4 million people with Medi-care received cost relief during the law’s first year. If you had Medicare prescription drug coverage and had to pay for your drugs in the cover-age gap known as the “donut hole,” you received a one-time, tax free $250 rebate from Medicare to help pay for your prescriptions.
• If you have high prescription drug costs that put you in the donut hole, you now get a 50% discount on covered brand-name drugs while
you’re in the donut hole. Between today and 2020, you’ll get continu-ous Medicare coverage for your pre-scription drugs. The donut hole will be closed completely by 2020.
• Medicare covers certain preventive services without charging you the Part B coinsurance or deductible. You will also be offered a free an-nual wellness exam.
• The life of the Medicare Trust Fund will be extended as a result of re-ducing waste, fraud and abuse, and slowing cost growth in Medicare, which will provide you with future cost savings on your premiums and coinsurance.
Download and print a PDF version of this fact sheet: Seniors and the Affordable Care Act here: http://www.heal thcare.gov/news/fact-sheets/2011/08/srs-aff-care-act.pdf Learn more about the Afford-able Care Act and share brochures and posters with others. http://www.healthcare.gov/news/brochures/index.html
THE AFFORDAblE CARE ACT
PlANNING FOR UPCOMING NATIONAlASSISTED lIVING WEEK
Does your activity calendar need some new ideas? Below are some creative activities for residents. If you have a fun activity that is a success at your community, please share it with us!• Name That Monument - Quiz your
residents about the different na-tional monuments in the USA.
• Speaker Series - August is National Eye Exam Month. Invite a speaker to come to your facility to talk about eye health and cataracts.
• Baking Club - Start a weekly or monthly baking club and bake a new recipe each time.• Comedy Night - Celebrate a fa-
mous comedian’s birthday
by showing one of their old movies, for example, Lucille Ball was born on August 6th, show her movie “The Long, Long Trailer” to resi-dents.
• Mystery Lunch - Host a mystery lunch for residents by having the staff act out a short whodunit (similar to the game Clue) scene during dessert. Consider purchas-ing an inexpensive whodunit? mys-tery book at your local bookstore.
• S’mores Social - August 10th is Na-tional S’mores Day, make s’mores for the residents.
• American Antiques - Invite a local antiques dealer to come by and display some old-fashioned equip-
ment, like oil lamps and camping gear, for this American Adventures Month. Ask residents to share their knowledge about the equipment.
• Elvis Social - Play fun Elvis tunes and serve his favorite snack of mini peanut butter and banana sand-wiches.
• Paper Plane Contest - Give resi-dents a white sheet of paper and have them make a paper airplane on August 19th, National Aviation Day. Have a contest to see whose plane can glide the farthest.
• Name That Summer Tune - Play fun summertime music and have residents guess the name of the song.
AUGUST ACTIVITY CAlENDAR IDEAS
New Building! Wallace County, Kansas is locat-ed just 15 miles east of the Colorado state line and 30 miles south of I-70 which tra-verses the state latitudinal. The county seat is Sharon Springs with a population of 835. Wallace County was founded in 1888 and covers 914 square miles. Out here, we like to say that you can find us where the blacktop ends and the west begins. Mt. Sunflower, elevation 4039, is located in Wallace County, which is the highest point in the state of Kansas, but frankly, it isn’t worth the drive, as any high points in Kansas are hardly notewor-thy. Wallace County was named for General William H.L. Wallace, a fort and a town; Wallace, also located in Wallace County, Kansas. General Wallace was
fatally wounded April 10, 1862 at the battle of Shiloh; a two-day, Civil War battle in Hardin County, Tennes-see that produced more than 23,000 casualties and was the bloodiest bat-tle in American history at its time. Fort Wallace was established in 1865 and was one of four military posts protecting the western route traveled by many stage and freight lines. It was aban-doned in 1882 and nothing now remains of the stone and wood buildings where once as many as 500 men were stationed. The post cemetery is all that remains of the once famous and strategic site of Fort Wallace. As you may know, it is believed that Kansas was once a great, inland sea. Rhino Hill is in the northeast part of Wallace County and has been the source of many fossilized shark’s teeth and ver-tebrate skeletons; discoveries that have been of interest to the scientific commu-nity at-large. Given this peek into history helps one understand the tenacity and determination behind the people of Wal-lace County – all 1,485 of them! What in-spired them to approve a $4 million bond levy and build a facility with six Assisted
Living units and a 24-bed, skilled nursing unit; all with private rooms and baths? What compelled them to see a multi-year project through several elections, two nursing home management companies, and now on the fourth administrator since the inception of the vision? Grit. True grit. I’m proud to be a part of the creation of the Wallace County Com-munity Care Center. The work here has been tough and a fierce sprint to becom-ing established. October 1st is the abso-lute deadline for completion of the new construction, so after many set-backs, delays, disappointments, and demands, we are sure that by the time the snow flies we will be settled in and all the battle wounds will be forgotten. Come and see us anytime! We would be proud to show off our high-tech model of the future of long-term care.
This is the exterior of the front entrance. Our current building is a few feet away from the new building. It will become the circle driveway. Contractors are cleaning and working toward wrapping up - finally!
Sharon Springs, KS • Wallace County Community Care Center www.rhdconsult.com/facilities/sharon_springs_ks.php
Exerts from www.notjustbingo.com
Sharon Springs, KS • Wallace County Community Care Center www.rhdconsult.com/facilities/sharon_springs_ks.php
1919 S. 40th St., Suite 302Lincoln, NE 68506
Cities of America CrosswordACROSS:1. Has it's own hot dog4. Home of The Cactus6. Home of the Orioles7. Home of the Gateway Arch (2 Words)9. largest city on hawaii13. Home of Mt. Rushmore15. ____, Indiana16. Home of the Indy 50018. Home of Hollywood (2 Words)20. Home of Red Sox21. Ghostown, Arizona24. ___ Moines, Iowa25. a.k.a. The Strip (2 Words)26. Capitol of Mississippi27. Home of the Colorado Rockies28. Capitol of New Jersey
DOWN:2. Capital of Ohio3. Largest city in the USA (2 Words)5. largest city in Minnesota8. Capitol of Florida10. Capitol of South Dakota11. capitol of U.S. (2 Words)12. Home of Ompliya14. Home of NASCAR hall of fame17. Capitol of Wyoming19. Capitol of Maine22. Home of space needle23. Capitol of Nebraska
