Congratulations Windsor Manor Webster City
To Jill Scott, Manager and Tami Greenfield, Health Care Coordinator and team at Windsor Manor Webster City for receiving a Regulatory Insufficiency free 2 year recertification. This is a great accomplishment and Senior Housing is very proud of you!

Needlestick and Sharps Injury Prevention
Kim Coonrod, FirstComp Safety Coordinator
Every day, health care workers are exposed to dangerous bloodborne pathogens through contaminated needles, sharps, or splash exposures. It is one of the greatest risks faced by the frontline health care worker. Every needlestick and sharps injury carries a risk of infection from bloodborne pathogens. Yet, these exposures often have been considered “part of the job.”

All employees in health care settings handling needles or other sharps are at risk for needlestick injury including nurses, nursing/patient care assistants, housekeeping, laundry, and maintenance workers.

Many injuries can be attributed to improper work practices. Examples include injuries that occur: while sharps are being passed between different individuals or transferred to a different location; due to recapping; during collisions between workers; and during decontamination or processing of used equipment. Personnel are also injured by the improper disposal of used sharps, such as when sharps are left in unusual locations including laundry, stuck in mattresses, left in pockets, and left on tables, trays, or other surfaces.

Safe Work Practices

• Sharps and needles should not be exposed until the moment they will be used and should remain pointed away from the user at all times.
• During a procedure, maintain visual contact with sharps during use.
• Sharps should never be hand-passed, instead, a predetermined neutral zone or tray should be arranged to place and retrieve sharps.
• All sharps should be accounted for: double check trays, linens, and waste materials prior to handling for any missed sharps accidentally left behind.
• Prior to disposal of non-reusable sharps, visually inspect the container to ensure that there is enough room for the device to fit.
• Never insert fingers into the container to facilitate disposal
• Avoid overfilling of sharps containers; if, after disposing of a device, a sharp is protruding from the container opening, notify responsible staff to safely dispose of and replace the container.
• If inappropriately disposed of sharps are discovered in the work environment, keep your hands behind the sharps at all times. If you are unable to safely handle the discovered sharp, use tongs or forceps to safely dispose of the device.

Injury Reporting
All employees should report not only sharps injuries but near-misses as well to better understand the injury mechanism and prevent further injuries. If you are injured an appropriate protocol has been developed for medical treatment and to evaluate the potential exposure.

Injury Management
If you experience a needlestick or sharps injury or were exposed to the blood or other body fluid of a resident during the course of your work, immediately wash the affected area with soap and water and flush splashes to the nose, mouth, or skin with water for 15 minutes. Eyes should be irrigated with clean water, saline, or sterile irrigants for 15 minutes. Immediately report the incident to your supervisor and seek medical treatment. Never wait to report injuries.

Arlington Place of Grundy Center

Arlington Place of Oelwein

Arlington Place of Pocahontas

Arlington Place of Red Oak

The managers and Health Care Coordinators for these communities have been working hard learning the processes of the Senior Housing “red carpet” culture. Again, we are very excited to work with such great residents and teams at Arlington Place, so please help me wish them all a warm welcome to the Senior Housing Family.

I would like to congratulate Jill Scott, Manager and Tami Greenfield, Health Care Coordinator and the entire team at Windsor Manor Webster City for receiving a Regulatory Insufficiency Free 2 year recertification from the Department of Inspections and Appeals in July! What a great accomplishment and we are very proud of Windsor Manor Webster City!

I also want to congratulate several managers and their communities with helping residents achieve their dreams through our “Dare to Dream” program. Michael Cummings, Manager and the team at Glenwood Place in Marshalltown helped a resident’s dream of riding in a helicopter come true! Keith Frink, Manager and the team at Garnett Place in Cedar Rapids found that one of the residents had been a minor league pitcher in the 1940s and organized the Cedar Rapids Kernels baseball team to come spend the day at Garnett Place! The team at Garnett Place also researched all of this resident’s statistics and shared them with him! Lynne Popp, Manager and the team at Clover Ridge Place in Maquoketa made a resident dream come true by taking him to the River Boat for an afternoon, as this resident was unable to go himself. There is further information on each “Dare to Dream” in this month’s newsletter. I truly want to thank each manager’s and the team in these communities for ensuring that our resident’s dreams are coming true!

Sincerely,
Allen Phillips, President
aphillips@shcshm.com

Hot Weather Precaution By: Kathy Lansing, SH Nurse Clinician:
Welcome to the lazy days of summer! Whether we are outdoors working or recreating, there are precautions we all need to take to prevent potential complications. Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are two examples of these complications to watch out for. These conditions may share some similar symptoms however heat stroke is considered a true medical emergency.

Heat exhaustion occurs when body fluids are lost through sweating causing the body to overheat. There are conditions which may predispose one to this. Some medications or medical conditions may impair the cooling mechanisms of the body. The elderly are especially prone to this by exertion in a hot humid environment.

Heat stroke is a life threatening condition whereby the body loses its ability to thermoregulate causing the core temperature to increase.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion are pale, cool, moist skin with profuse sweating. There may be muscle pain or cramping, dizziness, headache, weakness, nausea and thirst. The patient’s temperature and pulse rate may be increased.

Symptoms of heat stroke are confusion, loss of consciousness or hallucinations. The skin is usually flushed, hot and dry and the patient may exhibit hyperventilation. The temperature is usually 105F or above and the blood pressure generally falls.

If there are symptoms of heat exhaustion, seek a cooler area out of the sun, bathe skin with cool water, loosen or remove clothing and drink fluids. Always seek professional medical attention if you are not sure what is wrong. If there is loss of consciousness or other symptoms of heat stroke, call for an ambulance.

The best advice is to practice common sense prevention. Avoid strenuous activity in hot, humid weather. Be especially careful if you are not accustomed to working or recreating outdoors. Rest at regular intervals in a cool area. Drink plenty of fluids. Be proactive with small children and the elderly! Make sure there is plenty of shade to sit in, fluids to drink and be alert for any signs of sensitivity to the heat.

Be safe while you are having fun!!

Kathy Lansing,
Senior Housing Nurse Clinician
klansing@shcshm.com

Dare to Dream
Glenwood Place Marshalltown, IA:

Charming Bennethum always wanted to take a ride on a helicopter. She had a brother in the Navy who flew helicopters and Charming and her late husband had plans to fly that fell through at one point in her life. Charming mentioned her dream to Jessica Starn one day at Glenwood Place Assisted Living and the wheels got in motion to make it happen. A ride was set up through Iowa Helicopter and on June 26 th Charming, her daughter Judy and son-in-law Mike took a 30 minute flight around Des Moines. Charming said “I never thought I would be able to take one, I had given up on it” when discussing the ride. After the ride she said “I was surprised at how much water was on the ground” and “That is a day I will always remember”.

Charming and her daughter and son-in-law Ready to go!					And they are off!!!!

Michael Cummings, Manager
manager@glenwoodplaceal.net

Dare to Dream
Clover Ridge Place Maquoketa, IA:
Enjoying the river on a cruise ship was a Dare to Dream expressed by Mr. Pete Barto – long time resident of Clover Ridge Place. Cruising the river with a friend, enjoying an extravagant meal while listening to Big Band Music….to be exact. What began as a gray and foggy day ended in sunshine and shrimp cocktails. Pete, his dear friend Margaret and staff Jenn Gull headed to Dubuque to board a day cruise on the Mississippi Belle. The beautiful four deck ship offered live music, and tasty food that you enjoy while cruising. Big band musicians were swinging and many couples started to dance. A wonderful time was had by all as the sun came out and the river started to sparkle!

Lynne Popp, Manager
Clover Ridge Place
lynnepopp@cloverridgeplace.net

Dare to Dream
Garnett Place Cedar Rapids, IA:
Garnett Place’s Dave Roberts is one individual who Dared to Dream – and his Dream came true at an early age. Dave was a high-school standout who was scouted by the Cardinals in 1942 and went to play for them in 1944 for their Lynchburg, VA.

Dave was a well-known pitcher in Iowa. News clippings mention his no-hitters and he even struck out the famous Dizzy Dean in a promotional game. Garnett Place staff went to great lengths to locate his pitching statistics from the 1940s and honor him for his great accomplishments!

In May two players from the Cedar Rapids Kernels helped Garnett Place celebrate Dave’s Dream by reliving his baseball career. Matt Long, outfielder from California, and Jose Jiminez, catcher from Florida, made Dave feel a part of a team once again. We enjoyed Dave’s “taunting” an imaginary batter with his chatter of ”Batter, batter, batter, batter…..SWING batter, batter!”

He still has his original contracts which started out his pay at $160 a month and later raised it to $200 monthly. Dave retired in 1945 after marrying his high-school sweetheart, Doris. Their first child, Diane, was born in 1946 and the family added three more daughters.

A new Cardinals shirt and hat plus an autographed picture of Ozzie Smith, compliments of Joy Cox of Senior Housing, made the day a special one for him. Thanks, Dave, for letting us share the moment with you. We’re so proud of your living your dream.

Below are excerpt from letters to Dave Roberts of Nora Springs, IA from the St. Louis National Baseball Club

March 2, 1942
Dear Dave:
You have been selected as one possessing capabilities which may give you a career in professional baseball.

We do not know at the moment whether you are ready to play professionally, but we are ready to give you a trial at our expense.

March 11, 1942
Dear Dave:
I did not know that you were in high school or I should not have sent you the invitation to the Albany (Gerogia) camp. We do not interfere with boys’ school work if we know it.

However, I wish you would let me hear from you along in June and I will undertake to see you in action when you are ready to be seen.

It may be that we will find a place for you with one of our clubs at the time.

November 11, 1943
Dear Dave:
We were very glad to hear from you and to know that you re interested in starting out into professional baseball.

I recall looking at you in Charles City in the fall of 1942. As I recall it, we were rained out there and we were forced to look at the pitchers on the sidelines. Am also wondering if you are the boy whose father was out at the field and with whom I had quite a conversation.

March 11, 1944
Dear Mr. Roberts:
This is to advise that the Lynchburg ( Virginia) Cardinals open spring training here in Lynchburg on Wednesday, April 5.