The goal in life is to die
young—as late as possible.”
British anthropologist Ashley
Montague |
Live Young-Live Well:
A Strategy for Community Wellness
Live Young-Live Well is a project of Community Health Nursing / The South
Dakota Department of Health. If you have questions about Live Young-Live Well
or would like more information before taking the RealAge test, contact Beth
Preheim, Wellness Coordinator, at (605) 925-2125 or email:
bethp@freemanregional.com. |
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Employee Of the
Month
Laundry Aide Bonnie
Broders has been named
November’s Employee
Of The Month.
Bonnie has worked in the laundry
department at FRHS for one year.
“I enjoy my work here very much”
said Bonnie. "I really like visiting
with the residents, and working
with the others in the laundry department.
I also love my daytime
working hours, so I can spend more time with
my grandkids after school.”
Bonnie and her husband
Randy live in Freeman. Bonnie has two grown
daughters, Kristy Jensen and
Tiffany Hofer.
She has 7 grandchildren.
Her hobbies include gardening and
decorating her house for the holidays.
CONGRATULATIONS
BONNIE!
Grief and The Holidays" Session To Be Held At FRHS
Tuesday, November 11, Sanford Hospice will
be presenting an informative session
"Grief and the Holidays" in the Freeman
Regional Health Services conference
room from 5 - 6:30 p.m. This is a free event,
however pre-registration is encouraged.
Call 605-925-4000. For more information,
call 605-328-4440.
Oakview
Terrace Gains National Recognition
The Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services,
has announced that Oakview Terrace
Nursing Home will be nationally recognized for its commitment to providing an
environment free of physical
restraints. Oakview’s accomplishment will be publicized as an example of a
facility that
successfully improved the quality
of life for residents by eliminating physical restraints.
According to the Oakview Terrace
policies and procedures manual, physical restraints are defined as “any manual
method
or physical or mechanical device,
material or equipment attached or adjacent to the resident’s body that the
individual
cannot remove easily which
restricts freedom of movement or normal access to one’s body.
“Physical restraints have been
shown to put residents at risk for serious injury. They are also undignified
and affects the
resident’s psychosocial
well-being.”
Director of Nursing Heather
Thompson says “Our thought was that we were keeping people safe. But actually
the restraints
were causing residents to become
more aggravated and upset. We now know better.”
The need to reduce restraint usage
had begun prior to Thompson’s employment at Oakview.
“I helped complete the process of
eliminating the restraints,” states Thompson. “We then wrote the official policy
and enforced it.
“This change was the hardest
obstacle to overcome,” she said. “Staff, families and even physicians were of a
mindset that
restraints were keeping residents
safe.”
Eventually all alarms and
restraints were eliminated and today Oakview Terrace is completely free of
restraints.
An individual from the
Communications Quality Improvement Organization Support Center, who wanted
information about
the restraint free program at
Oakview, interviewed a team of employees from FRHS.
One of the members of that team was
Activity Assistant Joline Thomas. “You can become restraint free, but it’s a
process
you have to constantly re-visit,”
she said. “Resident change, their health status changes….and you must
constantly fine tune
processes as your resident
population changes.”
Little did the team know that the
interview and subsequent article would gain national attention. In March of
this year,
Thompson received a telephone call
from the Associated Press, a national news organization, inquiring about CMS
identifying
Oakview Terrace’s restraint free
status as a national success story.
Oakview’s story, “Reducing Physical
Restraints: Advice From Oakview Terrace in Freeman, South Dakota,” was selected
from stories submitted across the
U.S. and territories.
and territories. According to CMS
the success story will be used in national media outreach, recognizing the hard
work and
accomplishments of Oakview Terrace
Nursing Home, in an effort to promote the value of quality improvement
initiatives
to consumers and healthcare
providers across the country.
Thompson’s advice to other nursing
homes? “Throw out your restraints! Through education and aggressive measures,
staff
gained acceptance of the process.
We had to be aggressive, and as a result, it is now engrained in our staff that
restraints are
absolutely not an option.”
The results of no restraint usage
have been dramatic, according to Thompson. She said the rate of falls has
dropped since
discontinuing the use of
restraints. This has stemmed from staff education on which residents are at
risk, and how to prevent falls.
Individual interventions proved to
be a successful tactic, and these measures have not only improved residents’
quality of life and
safety, they have also improved
staff and resident morale.
A film crew will be documenting
these changes. This documentation will help other facilities implement
alternate interventions
in place of restraints.
Changes at Oakview Terrace
By Heather
Thompson, D.O.N.
I am pleased to announce that I
will be sharing the Director of Nursing position
with Theresa Laufmann, RN. at
Oakview Terrace.
Theresa has been a Director of
Nursing and brings a wealth of knowledge from
her past experiences. The job
sharing will allow us to develop new systems to
improve both the quality of care
for the residents and the working environment
for staff. We will share all
duties, so information should be given to the Director
of Nursing that is on duty that
day.
A schedule will be posted of who is
on duty, and who is on call for weekends.
APARTMENT AVAILABLE AT WALNUT STREET VILLAGE
One apartment is available for rent at Walnut Street Village. a
congregate living center owned and operated by
Freeman Regional Health Services.
Congregate living is a term which describes the independent life
style of apartment living. The term congregate means
just that: to congregate. Each apartment complex has
a large room centrally located where residents may gather for
parties, programs, family gatherings, etc.
There is a kitchen and dining area adjoining the larger party room, where
residents may eat breakfast together each morning. Breakfast is
provided by the dietary department at FRHS.
Other amenities of congregate living include repair and
maintenance of the buildings as well as lawn care; maintenance of
the grounds, and snow removal; an emergency call system which
rings directly into the hospital nurse's station - number 7
on the residents' telephones; educational and recreational
activities provided by FRHS; and maintenance nursing and physical
therapy services are available to the residents, as well.
For more information call Dan Gran or Mary Waltner at
605-925-4000.
Freeman Regional Health Services
November Calendar
County
Public Health Services will be now be available
on the third Tuesday and Thursday of every
other month.
No WIC in November
Cardiac Rehab
Monday-Wednesday-Friday
Bone
Density
Third
Monday of every month
CT
Scans
As scheduled
MRIs
Every
Wednesday
Mammogram
Appointments
available
Monday-Friday, call
925-2105
Physical Therapy
Monday
through Friday
Speech/Occupational Therapy
Monday
through Friday
Surgery
Monday
through Friday
Ultra
Sound Exams
As
scheduled
Foot Clinic Dates:
Nov. 12 Wednesday
Freeman Regional Health Services
(605)
925-4000
(605) 925-2137
email:
email@freemanregional.com
FHS
Board
of Directors
Dennis Wollman-President
John Butkus-Vice-President
Jason Aanenson -
Treasurer
Steve Fuhrmann
LaVerne Diede
Delmer Hofer
James Sattler
Lori Uecker
Jim Julson
Glenn Roth
Rural Medical
Clinics
Bridgewater (605) 729-2421
Freeman
(605) 925-4219
Marion
(605) 648-3559
Menno
(605) 387-5435
