We continue to re-think how we do things at Maplewood and this little tidbit caught my eye while I was reviewing some industry news. Listen to how one nurse caught the vision of how things might be done differently and the impact it had on her.
"I can vividly remember the day I learned how to pass medications from a very large rolling medication cart. It was much different from the way I had been taught to pre-pour medications in a med-room. We used those little med cards that matched the orders on the kardex, filled medication cups, placed the cup and cards on trays and hoped that they didn't get knocked over! The facility I was working in at the time had a wonderful DNS and staff development nurse who stood by our side as we re-learned how our med pass systems of bringing all those pills to our residents. Nowadays those large medication carts are considered "artifacts" of a nursing home, they are those tools we just expect to see and now we all know how to use. They are reminders of a medical based model.
The philosophy of symbolic interactionism teaches us that there are items in a nursing care facility that are symbols of being sick, handicapped, institutionalized or even symbols of dying, the medication cart being one of largest of these symbols. Mechanical lifts, blood pressure cuffs, medical professionals, uniforms, schedules, meal trays, wheel chairs, nurses' station and utility rooms are all reminders of being sick, they are images of a hospital. As we all move towards a culture and atmosphere that reflects a change in culture, these are all practices we should consider to change.
I was fortunate to get to visit the Green Houses of Tupelo Mississippi with my Leadership AAHSA fellow class. While there I was so impressed by how in these small homes they had locked medication cabinets in each person's room. This helped the environment feel more like the home it should feel like. The nurse there would pour and provide the pills in the privacy of the person's room."
As we look to reshape how we are perceived by the public there are very few "Home runs" that immediately transform our facility philosophy. Sometimes a lot of singles and doubles can be just as effective as that grand slam. We continue to have great hitters on our bench at Maplewood and we see ourselves as being in the playoffs for years to come.