I have good news to report to all of my fellow Regency Staff!
Many of you previously complained that our strong filter which is installed on the Regency terminal server, was preventing you from viewing our blog without distortion and in its actual layout. You were therefore making do with simply reading the email blog updates with the photographs enabled. Of course, that’s great too and please continue to do whatever works for you.
However, just today, we “whitelisted” our blog and Ambassador websites, so that if you are inclined to view the full experience of each blog posting online, you may do so without any filters (or recriminations 😉
I got feedback from many of you after yesterday’s blog telling me that I put you on an emotional roller coaster with my poignant remarks.
Thank you.
Like I said, there is a time and place for everything, so I’ll be lighter today.
Regency Nursing Centers loves aquariums and we showcase our beautiful aquascapes at each of our facilities. I’ve blogged about this in the past and you can find my remarks and beautiful pictures of our setups, right here.
By now, you are all familiar with the fish we keep in our admissions department.
The betta is named Deficiency Free, after our survey results.
“Deficiency free” swimming around in his new home!5 Gallon Aquarium with LED lights in the Admissions department where I hang out!
The 2 Goldfish, who are clearly bi-polar are named L and M (full names cannot be disclosed as it is a State classified secret! ..that’s a joke, btw).
Our aquariums aren’t exactly your childhood goldfish bowls. Actually, did you know that the world of competitive aquarium design, or aquascaping, is just as difficult, expensive, and cutthroat as any other sport but requires expertise in many different fields to guarantee success. Aquarium designers possess large amounts of expertise in biology, design, photography, and excel in the art of patience, as individual aquascapes can take months if not years to fully mature into a completed landscape.
The world’s largest nature aquarium and aquatic plants layout competition is the International Aquatic Plants Layout Contest (IAPLC) which annually ranks hundreds of competitors from around the world with Asian and Eastern European countries generally dominating the top slots. While it’s somewhat difficult to track down galleries of winners from every year, below are some amazing entries from the last few years. (These are real aquascapes of free standing aquariums!)
Because of this frigid weather, I’ve only run 18 miles in total for this week and I’m starting to feel it.
I saw a crazy running buddy doing outdoor miles early this morning. The vapor coming out of his mouth made his face look like the muffler on an old chevy caprice! The guy is nuts in the head.
For me the running addiction isn’t so much about the physical benefits as it is about the physiological benefits. The running enables me to navigate the vicissitudes of a tough work schedule and my intense personality.
So I thought, wouldn’t it be cool if I could use the awesome Regency Physical Therapy Gym for some exercise during off peak hours. Then I realized that at Regency there are no “off peak hours” and I don’t have Medicare or Medicaid.
I can do this stuff in our gym!
In the midst of these disjointed musings, I turned to look at Deficiency free and noticed that he was staring at me like I was guilty of some type of crime?! This fish isn’t happy, I thought. In fact, if looks could kill, I’d be dead. What’s bugging deficiency free? He’s got plenty of food and nourishment and lives in a beautiful habitat. He gets complimented by every family member I tour with and he is always the center of attention, so why the sour face?!
What’s bugging deficiency free?
I went out for a drink and figured I’d say hello to our very own Al Morris, who was in his office with the door open, lucky for him, he was on the phone and was clearly busy.
Al is too busy to chat!
When I got back to the admissions office, deficiency free seemed to have settled down somewhat and I was ready to work without the uncomfortable staring.
Maybe deficiency free needs some therapy?
You think he has Medicare?
At Regency Nursing Centers, it is a well established fact that we have more centenarians under our roof than any other nursing facility around. We ‘wrote the book’ on Centenarians! We achieved a Guinness World Record for hosting the largest Centenarian gathering under one roof.
The fact is, our residents thrive with us and their quality of life at Regency is the catalyst for their healthy ‘golden years!”
So when I saw this recent video interview by Jay Leno with 100 year old Dorothy Custer, I was absolutely tickled with delight!
You must watch this video. You will roll with laughter.
Dorothy Custer is the definition of gumption. Listen to her tell the story of how she met her husband, then at 1:15 she reveals the secret to long life (btw, it’s the cutest thing ever).
At least three small-screen shows featured long-term care environments as their settings in 2013.
In mid-September, Netflix introduced “Derek” to subscribers’ television and computer screens. The comedy showcased a fictional English nursing home caregiver and his offbeat co-workers, who “struggle against prejudice, government bureaucracy and constantly shrinking budgets to care for the elderly residents who depend on them.”
In November, Showtime launched a six-part documentary series, “Time of Death,” exploring how terminally ill people face their own mortality and how they are supported by healthcare and hospice workers, family and friends.
Later that month, HBO debuted “Getting On,” a comedy about a fictional “ragtag crew” caring for elderly women at a hospital’s extended care unit “while dealing with the challenges of a healthcare bureaucracy in need of an overhaul.”
Episodes of all of these shows remain available for viewing online.
We have a resident who was scheduled to come back to us today from the hospital after going there for a procedure. I waited all day for the re-admission and finally got a call this evening from the nurse case manager asking us to please do them a favor. It seems they couldn’t locate a suitable wheelchair for this fellow, but had already set up the transport and couldn’t keep him an additional night.
Could we help out?
Sure, no problem.
I got together with the indefatigable Al Morris of our Administration and we piled our own wheelchair into the jeep and drove over to the hospital to offer it up, so that our resident would be able to spend another night within our cozy confines and so that the hospital wouldn’t incur any financial losses as a result of their inability to provide for the transport this evening.
We just got back to the facility.
Here are the pics (of course)!
Al and Judah apply the Regency touch of perfection!
At Regency Nursing Centers, we cater to all religions and all denominations with singular compassion and commitment.
After a recent paint touch up for the doorway of one of our Jewish residents, I made sure to replace the Mezzuza on her doorpost this morning (much to her delight and appreciation). There is a special blessing which I recited before affixing the Mezzuza to the doorpost.
For information on what a Mezzuza is exactly and its symbolism, see this informative Wikipedia article.
So just the other day, our very own Marybeth, DON at Regency Gardens, was interviewing a prospective nurse regarding a full time position and there was a clear language barrier and they were having trouble understanding each other.
The interview was going absolutely nowhere.
At one point, the would-be nurse says to Marybeth “Mrs. Toblerone…..”
It was a huge effort for Marybeth to control herself and keep her laughter in check so as not to unduly embarrass this person.
Why would she address Marybeth Papetti as “Mrs. Toblerone,” you ask?
Well, it’s because this is what she saw sitting across the desk during her interview! (thank you Daki!!)
You’re never too old to be enthused about Santa and our seniors are no different!! The parishioners of Holy Family Catholic Church once again had their Giving Tree as they do every year. Each resident’s name is sent to them and they pick a name and shop shop shop!!! Our own Santa (aka Jerico Carreon) and his elf (aka Richie Canete) delivered a gift to each resident. The response was wonderful to see! Smiles and even a few tears as one resident said, “I’m 95 years old and Santa found me!!!” Thank you, Holy Family and your Giving Tree angels!!!
