I must have respect from my residents.

I have a question for the Board.

Why are you people doing nothing 

while some person with no vested interest 

in this community is planning to risk our life savings

 on some $100 million health care center,

 that none of the Residents want, need, or will ever use?

YOU PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK!

Some executive blows 20 million bucks of our money 

in the stock market.... then gets a bonus!

 And they raise the rates every year.

What the f***

Do I have to remind everyone about our

Social Accountablity Policies? 

I think it's time we change your level of care

Parkinson's disease Treatment | Mirapex ER® (pramipexole ...

https://www.mirapexer.com/

The most common side effects in people taking MIRAPEX ER for 

early PD are sleepiness, nausea and vomiting, constipation, dizziness, tiredness, hallucinations ...

Suffering Side Effects from Mirapex for Restless Legs - The ...

www.peoplespharmacy.com/.../suffering-side-effects-from-mirapex-for-r...

Feb 3, 2010 - Q. I have been haunted with RLS (restless leg syndrome) for years. I took the drug Mirapex, only to get all the side effects: gambling, overeating ...

Mirapex Side Effects - Restless Legs Syndrome - eMedTV.com

restless-legs-syndrome.emedtv.com/mirapex/mirapex-side-effects.html

A few common side effects of Mirapex include nausea, insomnia, and headaches . This eMedTV Web page lists other possible side effects, including serious side ...

Pramipexole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramipexole

Wikipedia

Pramipexole (Mirapex, Mirapexin, Sifrol) is a dopamine agonist of the ... Contents . 1 Pharmacology; 2 Bipolar depression; 3 Unipolar depression; 4 Side effects ...

Mirapex Treats Restless Legs Syndrome - Sleep Disorders

sleepdisorders.about.com › Health › Sleep › Treating Sleep Disorders

by Brandon Peters - As with any drug, there are potential side effects with the use ofMirapex. You are unlikely to experience most of these, and may not have any of them, but some ...

MIRAPEX: Side effects, ratings, and patient comments

www.askapatient.com/viewrating.asp?drug=20667&

Consumer ratings reports for MIRAPEX. Includes patient rankings on scale of 1-5, comments, side effects, dosage, sex, age, time taken.

Mirapex - Uses, Side Effects, Interactions - Drug Factsheets ...

chealth.canoe.ca › Medications

Canoe.ca

What will it do for me? How should I use Mirapex? What form(s) does Mirapex come in? Who should NOT take Mirapex? What side effects are possible with ...

Mirapex - Uses, Side Effects, Interactions - Drugs - Body ...

bodyandhealth.canada.com/drug_info_details.asp?brand_name_id...

Who should NOT take Mirapex? What side effects are possible with Mirapex? Are there any other precautions or warnings for Mirapex? What other drugs could ...

Mirapex - LawyersandSettlements.com

www.lawyersandsettlements.com › Potential Lawsuit

Feb 14, 2011 - Mirapex Gambling Class action lawsuit. Register ... These Mirapex side effects include an increased risk of compulsive behavior. Specifically ...

The New Thrill Pill: Critical Eye : Details

www.details.com/.../mirapex-side-effects-parkinsons-restless-leg-s...

Details

May 1, 2010 - All drugs have side effects, but only these prescription meds can turn an average ... He had just begun a three-pills-a-day regimen of Mirapex to ...

I've heard rumor that some of you have complaints

 about the way I run this Institution.

Is this True?

Our Survey Says..

We Make the Rules

Our Survey Says!

Staff friendly, but does not include most directors.

It is expensive and I wish the rent would not need to be raised every year.

This would be a great place to live if we didn’t have constant friction caused by Kim. 

She has no people skills. She avoids all contact with residents she wants to dictate.

She has fired all department heads.

She hires only people she can control.

Improve administrative staff.

Staff members are friendly and receptive, except Executive Director and her staff.

I  believe Elizabeth Derry does not have the important qualifications necessary for her job.

Monthly bill should identify extra charge in more detail than “activities” since timing is much 

before activity involved and charge is long forgotten.

Resident council should have a procedure to help protect an individual resident’s rights not to be

 involuntarily moved to and assisted living unit or special care residence. 

Everyone may one day encounter such a  problem and may need help 

to sort out the complex process of decision. 

For example and eviction procedure should include third party professional medical opinions rather 

than two nurse; reports.

Kim is not a leader but and enforcer to orders given her by the CPA (Johnson)

 whom she hired and gives raises each year!! Same relationship withe Mike .

 She’s a young immature cute woman over her head.

More open communication with the residents by management in major issue problem areas.

Kim needs to be less dogmatic, less of a bully, more open to resident suggestions and concerns,

less dismissive of resident input, less narcissistic.

Kim is too “my way or the highway” type, She also does not understand old people and 

shouldn’t be working in a retirement facility.

I think residents should have their apartments for life-not until Casa administration(thru

health care) wants the unit. It is self-serving to try to get unit from resident when hey/she is least 

capable of deciding. Remember, upfront fees can be gotten sooner if resident can be evicted!

Initiate a resident advocate committee. 

Read more at

Truthaboutcasa.eu.pn

 

 

 

FAMILY  COUNCIL

IN  THE  NURSING  HOME

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    A nursing home family council is a self-led and

    self-determining group of family members and other

     interested parties who meet regularly to:

    - Discuss and offer suggestions that have a positive 

       influence on the quality of residents’

       care, treatment, and quality of life;

    - Support each other;

    - Plan resident and family activities;

    - Participate in educational activities;

    - Or for any other purpose supporting the 

        interests of nursing home families and residents.

    Whatever affects the lives, care, rights, and safety of the residents is a proper concern of the family council. As an organization, the members share their collective concerns in writing with facility management.  The council provides an organized process for members to assert their rights, share their concerns, provide mutual emotional support, and seek action on legitimate concerns or deficient practices.

    

                                                       

PAGE CONTENTS

                ∆  The workings of a family council.

                ∆  Regulatory basis for family councils.

                ∆  Family council success.

                ∆  Benefits of a family council.

                ∆  Assistance in forming a family council.

  ∆  The workings of a family council.

   Family councils should serve as advocates for resident rights, care and personal needs, and quality of care concerns.  As a group, they can support facility management and staff to create the most positive long term care environment possible.  A successful council is involved with families, residents, staff, and management in a manner conducive to effective communication, cooperation, and mutual respect.  They work best when the focus is on finding solutions to problems or identifying needed improvements that will enrich the lives of residents.  Meaningful meetings involve discussing possible solutions, not just griping and reviewing problems.

    The council should be open to all families and others with a legitimate interest in the facility’s residents.  Participation is important to reduce a sense of isolation, helplessness, and frustration often felt by individual family members.  Family members of residents who have died can be an asset to the group because they may continue to have an interest in the welfare of facility residents and still need the support of other family members.

    An effective family council can provide a place for members to freely voice concerns in an environment of like minded individuals without the presence of facility staff.  Families can discuss and consolidate common concerns, identify possible solutions to issues, and focus on working with the facility to achieve quality care goals.  The resulting feedback from a family council brings together what may otherwise be a flood of individual complaints without overwhelming the facility staff.

  ∆  Regulatory basis for family councils.

    The family council role is so important to the well being of nursing home residents that the right to have such a group in a Medicare/Medicaid certified facility is established in law.

    Federal regulation §483.15(c), Participation in Resident and Family Groups, requires that:

    - A resident’s family has the right to meet in the facility with families of other residents in the facility;

    - The facility must provide a family group, if one exists, with private meeting space;

    - Staff or visitors may attend meetings at the group’s invitation;

   - The facility must provide a designated staff person responsible for providing assistance and responding to written requests that result from group meetings.

    - When a family group exists, the facility must listen to the views and act upon the grievances and recommendations of families concerning proposed policy and operational decisions affecting resident care and life in the facility.

    Families  are not required to organize a group or council for themselves and such a council should not be organized or led by facility staff.  Whenever families want to organize a council, the facility must allow them to do so without interference and provide the group with space, privacy, and staff support.  Neither the staff member designated to assist and communicate with the family group nor any other employee of the facility may attend meetings unless they are invited to do so.

    The facility is required to listen to family council recommendations and grievances.  Accepting communications on issues and ideas does not mean the facility must follow the dictates of these advisors. The group’s recommendations must be seriously considered and attempts made to accommodate the needs identified to the extent practicable through new or changed facility policies and procedures affecting resident care and life in the facility.

  The facility administration should respond to the family council recommendations and concerns in a timely manner and in writing.

    Through legislation, some states such as California, Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, and Minnesota have extended the rights of family councils and established new obligations for nursing facilities to work with and support their councils.

    For more information and guidelines from regulation §483.15(c) Participation in Resident and Family Groups, use the following link:

https://www.cms.gov/manuals/Downloads/som107ap_pp_guidelines_ltcf.pdf

  ∆  Family council success.

    Family members may participate in the organization only to have the backing of others as they express their anger, disappointment, and expectations of the facility.  Such an approach limits the success of the council in achieving positive changes.  The group gets mired down in the perceived problems of individuals rather than working for improvement for all residents.

    The chance of success is improved if the family council puts some or all the following suggestions to work.

1. •Being organized to the point of having common written goals, clear leadership, and effective communications with facility management will present the group as both serious in their work and true representatives of the residents’ best interests.

1. • Choosing battles wisely allows for improvements and positive responses in small but steady increments.  Drawing up a list of all the perceived problems and your solutions will most likely lead to a deadlock between the council and facility management.  Instead, set priorities for change but tweak that list so that the simplest one or two with direct importance to all residents are presented first.  Use this simple start to build a working relationship with the administrator.  Begin small with basic expectations and go on to build a successful improvement process.

1. •Present your concerns and suggested solutions in writing.  Verbal presentations are too much like the many grumblings and fault findings the administrator hears daily.  A written version also allows you to better judge how realistic and uncomplicated your concerns are.  Write to the point and clearly state your position without accusing.  Give examples, time, dates, location, and other specific information without, if possible, using residents’ names.

1. •Take the time to learn how a nursing home functions under their many financial and regulatory constraints.  Use this website to better understand how the facility is required to operate.  With that knowledge, moderate extreme emotions and expectations so that what you present to management is possible.  A family council will be defeated if they make demands on the administrator that are illegal, financially impossible, or will lead to him or her being fired if they go against accepted medical or regulatory practices or their employer’s operational standards.

1. •Act as a benevolent representative of all residents, not just the family members of the council.  The group’s activities should benefit all residents, including those who do not have active families or who are physically unable to voice their own concerns and needs.  Such obvious representation of all residents gives the group credibility, eliminating the appearance of being self-serving for themselves and their loved ones alone.

  ∆  Benefits of a family council.

    An effective organization can eliminate parking lot family councils where members of various families will, in good or bad weather, stand in the parking lot sharing concerns and stories of unacceptable resident care.

    A formal organization can serve as an outlet for those individuals who have serious concerns but are afraid to communicate them to the staff. They allow families to give each other support, encouragement, a chance to meet other families away from the parking lot, and share information while developing a supportive network within the facility.

    Being involved in addressing issues and concerns can eliminate feelings of helplessness and isolation while directing the energy of frustration into constructive action.

    Individual problems can be addressed within the council because other families have confronted the same situation and can advise or share their solution to a similar problem or direct them to a facility employee who can help.

    The council provides a single party for facility staff and management to  respond to family care and operational issues and a clear way for the facility to convey needed information to families.  Employees who have limited decision making authority will be freed of the stress and pressure to make changes by individual family members because, through the family council, those  matters would be taken directly to management.

    A positive family council may be surprised that some administrators welcome realistic assistance in the problem solving process.  Interested, concerned family members can provide brainpower that focuses directly on the needs of residents.

    Approached in an organized way with a positive attitude, the family council can be of great benefit to residents, families, and facility staff.

  ∆  Assistance in forming a family council.

    Assisting families to develop and maintain a family council is one of the services offered by your local long term care Ombudsman.  The name and contact information for the LTC Ombudsman should be posted in the facility and available from the social worker or administrator.

   For more information on the Long Term Care Ombudsman, go to the Ombudsman’s Help in the Nursing Home section of this website by clicking HERE.

    There are a number of internet sites offering guidance in organizing a successful council.  The following are some of the better sites.  Google nursing home family council for additional sites on the topic.

   Family Councils: www.canhr.org/factsheets/nh_fs/html/fs_famcounc.htm

   Family Council Center: www.theconsumervoice.org/familymember/family-council-center

   Family Council/Groups: www.health.state.mn.us/divs/fpc/profinfo/ib04_14.html

   Family Councils in Nursing Homes: www.intergens.com/famcouncil.html

   Organizing a Family Council: www.canhr.org/familycouncils/fc_organizing.htm

   Organizing Family Councils in Long Term Care Facilities:

                                                                    www.canhr.org/familycouncils/FCBook.pdf

   What is a Family Council?: www.noblehorizons.org/familycouncil.htm

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