Describe your dream LTC

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Okay, we MUST pretend that a) there are no regulations, b) all of the families are sane and reasonable, and c) everyone does their job willingly and happily and well. This is pretend.

My ideal facility:

Carpeting on all of the floors with padding underneath so people don't slip on the shiny tile in their slippery socks and break hips.

All of the low beds we need. Delicious, high-tech hospital beds. Beds that can automatically inflate and deflate for wounds.

The facility is built around a huge, self-contained courtyard with a flower garden, bird feeders, and smooth paths that anyone can use, from those in geri-chairs to the independent ambulators.

If someone doesn't wnt to get up they don't have to. Old, exhausted people don't need to be gotten into geri-chairs (beds on wheels) just so we can report that they're not bed-bound.

We have enough activities people that we can have dances and games and fun. I can get my people in geri-chairs moving, for crying out loud.

PT will let that old woman who is 92 and just broke her hip the heck alone.

If someone wants a salt-shaker so what. She's 112. She doesn't have to live as long as Methuselah.

People can get baths as often as they want them.

The hairdresser is there everyday.

We have enough personnel that everyone gets a back rub every day. They are so starved for tuch, and the more demented esp. are very tactile.

Now you go!

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Oh, and the best products for the problem, not the most cost-effective which are more expensive in the long run anyway.

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1. There are enough people in dietary that they can make any dish that any resident wants for any meal. If they want lobster and shrimp, okay. If they want chocolate chip cookie dough, awesome. If they want BBQ, so be it. They won't be able to use "I don't like what they're serving" as an excuse not to eat. And, of course, if they're not hungry for a meal, we won't shove it down their throats.

2. The physical layout of LTC buildings and decorations can get so tiresome; if you've seen one, you've seen them all. I want each hall to have its own theme. One will be "jungle" and there will be plants all around the hallways (and since this is pretend, the residents won't eat them or do other unsaid nasty things to them) and maybe some parrots and other birds that fly free. Of course, the birds are very friendly to the residents and like to talk back and would never bite or claw. Another hall would be "aquatic" -- the walls would be made of one big aquarium, just like at SeaWorld. There will be all sorts of fish swimming around and coral and seaweed. Another hall will be a "beach." The floor would be made to look like sand. There will be palm trees in the halls and a noisemaker in the background to make ocean sounds.

3. Somewhere in the building there will be a petting zoo open to the residents 24 hours a day. The residents will be able to enter and pet puppies, kittens, sheep, and miniature horses. They will also be able to feed the animals and play games with them (and naturally, the animals won't smell at all).

4. There is a full size movie theatre. I'm not talking about a small projector set, I'm talking about the real deal. And we will have an entire library of old movies and television shows for them to watch.

5. There is enough staff that they will be able to sit and visit with residents to get to know them better. There will be ample time to give only the best quality care possible.

6. No more cruddy linens for the residents. Their sheets are made of the finest quality egyptian cotton. They will have handmade quilts to keep them warm, not those itchy hospital blankets. Their washcloths and towels are soft cotton -- and actually WHITE.

7. No more hospital gowns to go to bed in. Everyone has their own set of pajamas.

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Private rooms! And no more outdated facilities where the bathrooms are barely w/c accessible!

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I'd like to have an activity director on weekends...

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Specializes in Peds Homecare.

"No more hospital gowns to go to bed in. Everyone has their own set of pajamas."

Actually not far from where I live, a grandaughter of one of the residents at an inner city nursing home, has done just that. She started when she was 12, and her goal was to give each resident a pair of pj's or night gown for Christmas, each year. This past Christmas was her 4th year, and has met her goal every year. Our community has been very good at donating. The grandaughter goes in every saturday and does nails, visits, and helps with activities. Just thought I'd share.

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No more 5 minute hurried showers. Everyone will be able to take real baths if they want them and actually RELAX in the process.

No more soap and shampoo that smells "medical" and doesn't work worth anything. Bath and Body Works for everyone.

The nurses station is a room with a door and thus no one ever bothers you while you are charting.

Wait a minute, how about there be no paperwork?

Other shifts are always happy to take over anything you don't have time for, so nobody ever has to stay late.

There is no such thing as a state surveyor.

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I already SAID there are no regulations. ;)

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Specializes in LTC, MDS, Education.

Happy Hour daily with wine, cheese, crackers, beer, chips, etc. And many mini-buses to take them on a ride, even if they don't get out.......Staff ratios of 5 CNAs per resident. Walk-in whirlpool baths.....Early coffee and sweet buns and sausage biscuits for the early risers. And they can go to the dining room in their bathrobes! Many comfortable sofas so they aren't stuck in w/c's all day. And let them go to bed whenever they want! Very few meds....Cake and ice cream every day! :BDCk:

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

One with lots of staffing, a CNA for every four to five residents, and even one to every one or two residents if they are high needs. Meals served all day with lots of choices and of course early and late breakfasts each day, a bath or shower every day, hair do's and nails done weekly for those interested and lots of differing activities which would include lots of time with the therapy pets. Dare to dream.

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I love to dream about this stuff...

1. The whole facility bigger and with less people. WIDE hallways, LARGE bathrooms that a wheelchair and two people can easily fit in.

2. Private rooms, each room with its own bathroom including shower/tub/whirlpool.

3. Showers as often as the resident wants one.

4. Having house pets that live in the facility.

5. For elderly, long term care patients...a liberalized diet! Including alcohol in moderation for any that want it.

6. To go along with the diet, let's increase the dietary staff and budget exponentially so that the residents can actually get palatable food most days.

7. Fine dining experiences for those that want it. Not eating off trays with the cheapest of utensils and juice in a disposable plastic.

8. MD/pharm/nurses working together to reduce polypharmacy and reduce meds given to what is actually necessary only.

9. Having a MD or APRN in house 24/7.

10. Do I have to say tons more nursing staff?

11. In house pharmacy.

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Specializes in LTC.

we have a office for our nursing station and a door and i still get interuppted during charting.

Anyway, every resident has a one on one si hopefully this mean no falls.

family members should be fined for every time they berate the nurse

the don must work as a cna to never forget what our cnas do. btw I clean my residents so I will never forget

In house pharmacy thats open 24/7

every meal is gourmet

starbucks in the facility

nice nurses

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