Simply Ducky Manager

Our celebration of a very special man was recently featured in the The Casket.

   On Jan. 16, Charlie Worth was the guest of honour as he and some family members joined staff and residents of the home for plenty of reminisces and, of course, a lot of laughs.

You can read the full article here on the The Casket’s website.

Reflections of our Residents were recently featured in the The Casket.

    For Mary E. Walsh, memories of a young teacher putting on a Christmas concert in a one-room schoolhouse came flooding back.

You can read the full article here on the The Casket’s website.

A Country Christmas at the RK MacDonald Nursing Home was recently featured in the The Casket.

  “I was kind of bored one day and I decided ‘well, I have got to do something,’” the Margaree Valley, Cape Breton native, said, when asked where he came up with the idea for the holiday celebration.

You can read the full article here on the The Casket’s website.

A donation to the RK MacDonald Nursing Home was recently featured in the The Casket.

“It’s very heartwarming to see their contribution,” she said. “We all have a connection to dementia and it’s great to see groups, like the S&B ladies, using their talents to contribute in such a meaningful way.”

You can read the full article here on the The Casket’s website.

The RK MacDonald Nursing Home’s Remembrance Day Ceremony  was recently featured in the The Casket.

The celebration, which took place Nov. 8 in the R.K. Chapel, included residents, family members and staff, along with Royal Canadian Legion Arras Branch 59 members and veterans.

You can read the full article here on the The Casket’s website.

Join us to celebrate Christmas this year by helping the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home to light up our tree with a bulb dedicated to love. As in previous years, our ‘Lights of Love’ Christmas tree will be lit to honour people in whose name donations were made. These people do not have to be residents of the R.K.

Your donation will be used to fund A Dementia-Friendly Healing & Sensory Garden. 

You can dedicate a bulb in memory of a deceased loved one or to honour someone presently in your life. There is no limit to the number of bulbs you can purchase. In addition to a tax receipt for your donation, you can receive a card which you may send to anyone you have honoured.

The tree will be lit and dedications read at 7.00 p.m. on Sunday, December 4^th, 2016, in the R.K. Chapel.  Following prayers, dedications and carols, refreshments will be served in the R.K. Dining Room.  All dedications will be entered in a ‘Lights of Love Memorial Book’ which will be on display in the R.K. Chapel for the next year.

If you would like to donate to the Lights of Love Campaign, you can download this years’ form here.

RK Mac Donald Nursing Home

Family Council Committee Meeting

Wednesday Sept 13, 2016: 3:30 pm

 Present:

Jim Mulcahy (Chair), Cathy L Mac Donald, Cathy D. Mac Donald, Barb Mac Kinnon, Mary Mac Donald & Marian Mac lellan.

Regrets:

Dorothy Ludlow, Jim Peters & Mary Lynn Mac Intyre

1. The Chair introduced the new members and passed out the Terms of Reference to new members. Marian Mac Lellan volunteered to record the minutes.
2. Michelle Thompson CEO read an update from her report re activities that are on going at the RK, see attached report from Michelle Thompson.
3. Questions were raised re the status of the number of volunteers at the RK and the role that they play within the organization.
4. Clarification was also received regarding the “feedback process”. The ability to provide feedback electronically is now available through the RK website.  The “Feedback process” can be found on the website under “contact”.
5. Next meeting date Wednesday October 12^th, 3:30, an agenda will follow prior to the meeting.

Respectively Submitted by

Marian MacLellan

September 2016 CEO Update to Family Council

1. Thank you for Terms of Reference. I want to thank and acknowledge the Council members for the thoughtfulness that went into them. I have shared them with Senior Leaders and the Board of Directors as well.
2. The Strategic Plan is on the website as well as the priorities for 2016. “Plan on a Page”
3. There is a new CCA course starting at the R.K. MacDonald on September 12, 2016. We have partnered with Futureworx as the course provider..
4. Accreditation Update: We have registered with Accreditation Canada. As we are currently not an accredited facility there is a 2 year process called the “Accreditation Primer” that is essential preparation phase before moving into full accreditation phase. We will be in touch with the Family Council when we receive more detailed information about the process and how we can partner to meet the Standards. In particular doing a survey with Resdeints and families would be a great opportunity to partner together.
5. Summertime: we continue to be challenged with staffing, particularly in the nursing department. We recruited heavily in the Spring and despite a significant number of new employees hired across all disciplines, we had times where shifts weren’t filled. There are a number of staff currently off on leave and we are supporting their return to work to the best of our ability. In addition we are undertaking the following actions:
   1. We are looking into workplace wellness programs through provincial health care associations to understand if there is potential to roll out a program here.
   2. We are working with local rehab specialist to learn more about mental health supports and rehab programs for people experiencing significant stress and/or mental distress and mental illness.
   3. We have been encouraging all staff enrolled in benefits to utilize the benefits for self care and preventative health programs
   4. We are encouraging folks to utilize the Employee and Family Assistance Programs. They are anonymous and free of charge and the organization only receives aggregate numbers regarding uptake. No details are shared
   5. We are doing a workplace wellness survey asking staff how we can best support their wellness as an organization

We want to encourage staff to care for themselves and we want to support their wellbeing as an organization.

6. We will be undertaking staff education over the course of about 10 months focused on care of residents with dementia. We will be incorporating the Positive Physical Approach from Teepa Snow. All staff in the building will be going through training sessions so it will take a significant amount of time to have staff attend. We don’t want to rush the process however and we want to ensure that the training days are paced well and spaced well in order to translate learning to practice. The training days will begin in October

Again, if there is anything you need from me, or the Senior Leadership Team, please do not hesitate to ask. Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to the R.K. MacDonald and the residents who live here.

Michelle Thompson

Notice to Residents and Families

Administrative Change

R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home has recently enrolled in the Accreditation Canada process. Accreditation Canada is a not for profit organization which sets national quality and safety standards for healthcare organizations. As the organization works toward achieving these standards we will require someone to support the implementation of a more robust quality program throughout the Home.

Effective October 17, 2016 Maryann Chisholm assumed the role of Director of Quality and Terry MacIntyre has assumed the role of Director of Clinical Services.

This means that the delivery of clinical services, including the Nursing Department, will be managed by Terry MacIntyre. Any issues related to care areas may be brought directly to him.

Terry’s office is directly across from Maryann’s office on the Main Floor of the Home.

Maryann’s office location has not changed.

As the Quality Program grows, you can expect that we will be soliciting feedback about the services provided at the R.K. We will be asking where we are doing things well and where we can improve. This will happen through a surveys, focus groups, committee work and individual conversations.

As always, we welcome your observations and feedback about the Home at any time.

Please join me in thanking and congratulating Terry and Maryann for taking on these new roles

Sincerely,

Michelle Thompson CEO

Staff from Lawtons Drugs, Home Care Centre will be presenting the Silvert’s line of women’s and men’s adaptive clothing and footwear that are designed for comfort, are stylish and may be an ideal Christmas gift for your family member.

Date: Saturday, November 5th and Sunday, November 6th
Time: 2 -4pm
Location: Main Entrance of the RK MacDonald Nursing Home

Orders will be taken and delivery in time for Christmas wrapping.

For further information visit: http://www.silverts.com

 R.K MacDonald Nursing Home

Family Council Terms of Reference

May 2016 – May 2017

 R.K.MacDonald Family Council Summary Minutes (January-June 2016) – Terms of Reference

 Introduction

In the late fall of 2015 Mr. Terry MacIntyre (R.K. Director of Rehab) invited interested relatives of R.K. MacDonald residents to meet with him and begin the process of forming a viable, effective, and autonomous Family Council within the facility.  As part of the process, this nascent Family Council has met regularly to review and consider a variety of family council models.  Several resources were used in this review including a guide prepared by Mr. MacIntyre, as well as models suggested by The Association of Advocates for Care Reform (British Columbia), and related documents published by the governments of Ontario and Nova Scotia.  Ms. Kerstin Mueller and Ms. Nelly Fiaz were invited by the Council to act as non-voting, outside consultants for this document review. The summary report they developed proved to be a valuable asset as the Council considered the various model options and their constitutions.

Detailed below are the Terms of Reference developed and ratified by the current R.K. MacDonald Family Council at its regular meeting on June 8, 2016. The ratifying and publication of these terms concludes the Council’s initial and fundamental task of creating the basic structural elements felt necessary to establish a “viable, effective, and autonomous” R.K.MacDonald Family Council. It is expected that these Terms of Reference shall be reviewed (and possibly revised) regularly. Included in the current terms is a process for making amendments to the terms.

It should be noted that the question of membership size (limited or open) has not been included in the current terms.  After considerable discussion, the current Council felt that important question should be addressed at a general meeting to be held in May of 2017.  All relatives, friends, and advocates of current R/K. MacDonald residents shall be invited to attend that meeting and contribute to resolving this remaining issue.

Family Council Terms of Reference (2016 – 2017)

The R.K. MacDonald Family Council is an organized, autonomous (self-led/ self-determining), democratic group composed of family, friends, and advocates of R.K. MacDonald residents.

Vision

The R.K. MacDonald Family Council envisions a compassionate, collaborative, and mutually supportive community of personal and professional caregivers

Mission

R.K. MacDonald Family Council’s mission to is to work collaboratively with residents’ family members, friends, and advocates; the Residents’ Council; and the administration and staff of the R.K. to enhance the quality of care and life experienced by the residents of the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home.

Functions

The Family Council shall carry out its mission through a variety of functions among them being:

– Providing ongoing mutual support, counsel, education, and encouragement to current, new, and prospective family, friends, and advocates of R.K. MacDonald residents..

– Providing an effective forum for Family Council members to identify, discuss, and clarify collective concerns, needs, and complaints with respect to the quality of care provided by the Home.

– Providing a united, “collective voice” to effectively and productively communicate those concerns, needs, complaints to the administration and staff of the R.K. MacDonald for the purpose of remediation.

– Providing constructive program/policy ideas, proposals, recommendations, and critiques to collaboratively help enhance the quality of care and life for R.K. residents.

– Providing practical assistance and counsel when requested to family, friends, and advocates  addressing a concern through the “Single Family Resolution Process”

– Encouraging and facilitating effective two-way communication with the Home’s administration/staff, residents, and the family, friends, and advocates of residents not directly involved in the Family Council.

– Acknowledging, commending, supporting, and encouraging excellence in care in terms of management and staff’s practice, programs, policies and initiatives within the R.K.

Membership

Membership on the R.K. Macdonald Family Council shall be restricted to family members, friends (persons of importance), and/or advocates of current

residents of the R.K.. Members shall sit for an initial term of two years with the option of serving a second consecutive two year term if desired (or elected. See note on limited/open membership size in introduction) .  Additional terms of membership may be granted in exceptional cases with the approval of the majority of the current Council membership provided the member in question remains a family member, friend, or advocate of a current RK resident. Should  the resident of Family Council member pass away, the Council member may complete his or her term of membership or resign from the Council at any time before the expiration of that term.

Council Meetings

Regular Family Council meetings shall take place at the R.K. on the second Wednesday of each month beginning at 3:30.  Additional meetings may take place when deemed necessary by the Council.

The regular meeting in May shall be the “annual meeting” and shall be for the purpose of electing officers (if necessary), receiving and reviewing reports of officers and committees, and for any other general business including reviewing and potentially amending the terms of reference.

Council Officers

The officers of the Family Council shall be a Chair and a Secretary.  The Chair or designate shall be the spokesperson and liaison with the Administration and any outside agency.

Officers shall be elected by secret ballot for two year terms. No officer shall serve more than two consecutive terms.

Election of officers shall in normal circumstances take place at the annual meeting in May.  Should an officer resign before completing his or her term of office,  a new officer shall be elected at the next regular meeting following that resignation.

Decision Making

Decisions shall be made by full consensus or following voting procedures as outlined in Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised depending upon the number of members in attendance, the significance of the action to be taken, the discretion of the Chair, or the wish of the members.  Between meetings in circumstances where a decision is urgent and necessary the Chair can act on behalf of the Family Council. Such “independent” decisions shall be presented by the Chair to all Council members at the next Council meeting for their review.  That presentation shall include an explanation of the circumstances requiring the Chair’s independent action as well as the Chair’s rationale for the specific decision/action taken.

Community Engagement

From time to time, in order to better carry out its mission, the Family Council may invite members of the general public to assist the Council by serving on various special Council committees.  The focus of such committees shall be limited in terms of scope and time and such special committees shall be dissolved after completion of their Council designated tasks.  Community members on such special committees shall be considered “consultants” and shall not have Council voting privileges.

The Family Council shall also encourage community engagement in carrying out its mission by encouraging public presentations by individuals or groups from the community with knowledge and or skills acknowledged as beneficial to enhancing the quality of care and life for R.K. residents

Family Council Staff Assistant

The R.K. MacDonald Family Council may ask the administrator of the Home to appoint a mutually acceptable Family Council Staff Assistant to help facilitate two-way communication and collaboration between the administration and the Council.  The Staff Assistant’s attendance at any Council meeting in whole or in part shall be at the discretion of the Council.

Amendments

Amendments  to these terms of reference shall be considered and voted on at the annual meeting in May.  Terms of reference amendments shall be approved with a 2/3 majority.  Notice of any and all proposed terms of reference amendments must be provided to all Council members at least one month before the May meeting.

Minutes

Minutes for all Council meetings shall be recorded by the Council Secretary and posted online at the R.K. MacDonald website no later than ten days after each meeting.  Printed copies of the Council minutes shall also be placed in a designated binder and placed in the foyer of the R.K.