Archive for November, 2008

Yesterday the oldest person, Edna Parker died at age 115. She outlived her husband who died in 1939, and her two sons. Staying active long after most slow down, Edna Parker pushed wheelchairs for others in the nursing home to keep busy. When asked, she attributed education to her longevity.

I know quite a few people who begin to slow down in their fifties and sixties, especially after they retire. Sometimes then their health begins to deteriorate. What if retirement was only the halfway point? For Edna Parker at age 55, she hadn’t even lived half of her life. She truly is an inspiration to us all–proving there doesn’t have to be age limitations.

The full article can be found by clicking on this link.

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Edna Parker, wheelchairs, nursing home

Found an interesting article discussing how caregiver stress can lead to hospitalization or even death. Check it out this link.

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caregiver stress

Tonight I was going over my journal from a few years ago. It brought to mind the disastrous day when it took three hours for only eight nursing home residents to vote.

The odd part was that we had a voting precinct available in our building. General public could vote, but we were registered at a elementary school across the street.

Learning of this problem, the nursing home looked into voting electronically, where a hand held device could be brought to each resident. After trying this machine out with one resident, we found out the device was defective. The only other option we had was to get the facility van and gather together all the residents.

Despite this inconvenience and waiting over two hours, some of the residents were still willing to wait so they could vote. However, as time continued to pass, more and more residents became tired and fatigued. In the end, we waited three hours and only eight of the seventeen residents who wanted to vote were able to sustain the process.

I also have a close friend who lives in a nursing home. She discussed on several occasions that she would like to vote, but did not know how to go about it. I assumed the nursing home would help with this process. After the election, I happened to ask her if she had voted. To my surprise the facility did nothing to assist her.

According to an article in USA Today, approximately 10% of the population live in nursing homes. So imagine if every facility had a similar issue. This would lead to a large percentage of people who did not get to exercise their right as Americans.

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nursing home residents

I’m proud to say, my husband’s web design company, AIM Technology Services donated a website to Alzheimer’s & Dementia Alliance for Education & Support(ADAES).

ADAES led by Terrie Hardison in Ocala, Florida, equips caregivers with the knowledge they need to manage the challenges associated with caring for a loved one. This organization has already helped hundreds of people this year, even while still in its infancy. Check out their new site at www.adaesinc.org.

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Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Ocala, Florida

I found an interesting website that predicts a website user’s age, gender, and other demographic information, based on their online behavior, such as what queries they search online and what sites they visit.

All you have to do is type in a topic or web address, and this tool gives information pertaining to what demographic is interested in the topic. For example, if you typed in my URL, Nursing Home Talk you would find that 71% (as of today) of the readers are female compared to males. So, if you are curious to know what age group, for example, is interested in home health in your area, this may be a tool to check out.

Here is the link:

Demographic Prediction Tool

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home health

For those of you who have asked…here, finally is my recommendation for taking the nursing home administrator exams. Not to sound overly confident, but I had no trouble with either test (NAB or state). Of course, I listened to some very wise people in deciding what to do. At the time my preceptor said, “don’t even attempt” to take these exams without a review course. She claimed books and study guides were insufficient on their own.

For the most part, I would agree with her. The material I received from the review courses was by far the most relevant. Originally, I looked into a lot of different avenues. For example James E. Allen has a long term care administration online review course which runs about $600 for both parts. At the time, I was student and this was far more than I could afford. So instead I bought a few books that had been recommended, and decided to sign up for a local review course, which cost me about $150 each.

Below I have listed out a few books, I would recommend to those taking the NAB exam. The most relevant is the NAB Nursing Home Administrators Examination. I read this book several times, and each time I found more relevant material. When taking the exam, it seemed many questions came directly from this text.

Whatever you do, take your time to review all material so you feel prepared. Know your weaknesses, and properly study for them. If you need any help or have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Recommended Books & Study Guides:

NAB Nursing Home Administrators Examination

Principles to Health Care Administration

The Licensing Exam Review Guide in Nursing Home Administration: 1000 Test Questions in the Nation Examination Format on the 1996 Domains of Practice

The Licensing Exam Review Guide in Nursing Home Administration: Fifth Edition

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nursing home administrator, James E. Allen, long term care administration