Congratulations to Our Newest SPARC Winner!

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Ashley Sells, an OT student at the University of Texas at Tyler, is our SPARC winner this quarter. She plans to graduate in December 2020 and already practices our Ensign culture.

Read her awesome essay below:

I have always known I wanted to pursue a healthcare career since high school. When I was a junior in high school, I was selected to join an elective group called Health Science Technology, which allowed us to shadow different departments in the medical field to better understand what we are interested in. From the beginning, I was always drawn to therapy, and once I learned what distinguished occupational therapy and physical therapy, I fell in love with occupational therapy.

I have been a full time COTA in home health for 4 years and I can honestly say I’m happy with my job and couldn’t imagine anything better. The deciding factor for me to return to school for my master’s degree and become an OTR was job security. The medical field is ever changing, and I want to secure my place in the field of occupational therapy as a supervising therapist because I have such a passion for this career field. This career and setting allows for flexibility of treatments and building rapport with my clients in their natural environments in addition to balancing my personal life as a special needs mother. Raising a special needs child makes it very easy for me to have empathy for all my clients and their families, regardless of age. I am the kind of therapist who has a passion for my patients. I am dedicated just as much to building rapport and relationships with my patients as I am to provide skilled intervention for them. I look at my patients from a holistic view and consider many additional aspects besides reason for therapy referral. I strive to build lasting relationships with my clients and their families and make a lifelong impression.

I understand that, many times, I am coming into my patient’s lives during one of the lowest valleys they may ever encounter, and I see that as an opportunity to provide perspective and motivate them to keep trying. As a therapist, we live for success stories; you know, the ones that remind you why you fell in love with this profession. One of my favorite memories included a patient who had spina bifida and was transferred to my caseload from another therapist who “couldn’t handle her”. I was expecting a rude, non-compliant patient, but I received a humble, respectful 36-year-old woman who had been through 27 surgeries and just wanted to take a shower and learn to put her clothes on by herself again. Before she became my patient, she hadn’t had a shower in 3 months. In fact, she cried the first time I helped her in the shower and stated, “You have no idea how much this means to me.” And, after 4 months of hard work, dedication, and creative thinking, she was able to shower with supervision and dress herself independently. She will never have to go 3 months without a shower again.

Often, my most difficult patients are the most rewarding. In fact, I recently had a gentleman on caseload who has been depressed since he had his stroke several months ago and didn’t ever want to participate in therapy because he just didn’t see the point in it; he didn’t think he would ever come back from this diagnosis. When encouraged to participate, he would often lash out, asking “Have you ever had a stroke? Then you don’t understand what it feels like.” After just 2 weeks of seeing him, he smiled at me and cracked a joke. In addition, he walked twice as far as he did the week prior. And when I mentioned possible discharge the following week at his reassessment, he even asked if I could keep coming a few more weeks and made phenomenal progress those last few weeks. As a therapist, physical improvements are often what we work towards and they are great, but words cannot describe what kind of victory it feels like for me to connect with a patient who continuously shuts everyone out.

Although I have been a practicing COTA for 4 years, I continue to learn and grow as a practitioner every week. My passion for learning contributes to my patients’ well-being daily due to various reasons. When I have a patient who has multiple comorbidities that prevent him/her from completing a functional task with a common or simple adaptation, I am able to research through online databases for alternative ways to achieve the same task. When I have a family who has a less than optimal bathroom layout that increases fall risk and compromises the patient’s safety, I am able to research and brainstorm different pieces of adaptive equipment and placement options that best fit the client’s needs. When I had a 300 pound client who had to painfully crawl on his hands and knees up/down 3 wooden steps outside his home in order to leave his home for doctors’ appointments, I attempted to call the home health agency to request a social work visit in order to get a ramp installed for the client. When my attempts remained unresolved after a week, I took it upon myself to research nonprofit organizations in his county that provided ramps for no cost to low income families. I contacted the organization, filled out the application, and had a ramp installed for him in less than 2 weeks, all while having no idea if I was going through the correct avenue or not. Since the first ramp application I filled out, I have filled out numerous more and had the opportunity to share my knowledge with other therapists in surrounding counties to better serve their clients.

In the home health setting, there are some instances when therapists and clients are unfortunately left with little to no assistance or guidance for problems that arise outside their believed “scope of practice.” With 4-5 professionals (including nurses, physical therapists, and even a home health doctor) entering the previously mentioned clients home before I did, it is a shame to me that no one had started the process to help the client obtain a ramp. This particular situation allowed me to realize that I cannot ever assume anyone else will help a client handle their challenges that arise on a daily basis; I am the type of therapist who remembers that anything pertaining to my client’s wellbeing falls within my scope of practice and it is my mission to help my clients be safe, independent, and have good quality of life.

These are a few of the reasons I fell in love with this profession and these are the reasons I will continue to be successful in my profession and spark joy in my clients’ lives. I know you have many deserving applicants that apply for this scholarship; I do not think I am any more deserving than the next applicant, but I would be very honored and appreciative to accept any type of assistance you may be able to offer. In May, I will have to stop working in order to complete my 6-month fieldwork and this will put a huge financial burden on my family. I am a single mother to a 6-year-old boy with autism who attends full time, intensive ABA therapy because he is not yet functional enough to attend public school. The insurance and therapy expenses alone are enough to cause financial struggles for any single income family, but when factoring in normal bills and not having a steady income for 6 months, it makes me very anxious to see if I will be able to finish school this year and not fall behind on my monthly bills. I take out school loans each semester to help me get through and I save as much as I can, but I am not sure I will have enough to cover all my expenses. I know this is a temporary financial struggle I have to push through in order to graduate, but I would greatly appreciate any amount of financial assistance your organization might be able to offer. Thank you for your time.

Therapist Profile: Nicole King, SLP/DOR

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Submitted by Jamie Funk, Therapy Recruiting Resource
Introducing Nicole King, one of our newest Directors of Rehabilitation at Ridgeview Post-Acute in Commerce City, Colorado.

Nicole King is an SLP with over 12 years of experience who joined the Ensign family in March to help us transition Ridgeview Post-Acute in Commerce City, Colorado. Nicole has had her work cut out for her with many significant challenges, including a newly acquired facility that had been neglected and did not have a strong culture, building out her therapy team with several new hires, and almost immediately post-acquisition, dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. She has maintained a “let’s get this done” spirit and positive attitude in the face of these challenges and is already having an impact at Ridgeview.

Nicole’s most rewarding therapy experiences have revolved around getting to know her residents. “We have the opportunity to learn and grow with each new patient we meet,” she explains. Nicole also loves celebrating successes with her patients. “Any time I’ve gotten a patient off a PEG tube and back to eating solid foods again, I always celebrate with a lunch filled with their favorite foods!”

Like many of us, Nicole came from an organization with a very corporate structure. The freedom and empowering culture at her Ensign affiliate has been a breath of fresh air. Her vision for Ridgeview is to successfully transition the facility through the acquisition and get the Abilities Care Program up and running. “I have a great therapy team who is behind this goal and I am so grateful for them. I know our reputation (Ridgeview Post-Acute) in the community will rise to the top!”

When not working, Nicole spends time with her husband and two daughters, Fiona and Stella, and enjoys cooking, reading and going to the mountains – one of the many perks of living in the Denver area. She also loves comedies and enjoys any movie with Will Ferrell or Paul Rudd (no wonder I like her!).
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown is Nicole’s favorite business book. The book focuses on the idea that vulnerability is the heart of courageous leadership and offers strategies for leading from the heart rather than leading from fear. Nicole has embraced CAPLICO and relates to each core value, with Love One Another being her favorite. “Without Love One Another, the others aren’t achievable,” she says.

I am excited to watch what Nicole and her team accomplish at Ridgeview in the coming months. Welcome to the Ensign family, Nicole!

Program for Spanish-Speaking Residents

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By Sarah Scott, SLP, Pointe Meadows, Lehi, Utah

About six weeks ago, my DOR asked me if I had any suggestions for therapy interventions for one of our Spanish-speaking residents who was having significant behaviors, including medication refusal, exit seeking, aggression, falls and throwing himself onto the ground. His diagnoses included Parkinson’s disease, severe anxiety, and repeated falls. We truly wanted to identify a plan that would address his needs and reduce the behaviors and anxiety.

We created, among other things, new simple Spanish communication boards, visual aids to support medication administration, functional problem solving, and protocol to prevent escalation of behaviors. With our therapeutic interventions, the patient started to demonstrate a dramatic increase in cognitive linguistic potential and decrease in adverse behaviors. His test scores increased, and he and his family also reported feeling happier. The nursing notes reported pleasant and compliant behaviors.

Our therapists are passionate about program implementation for diverse cultures, and understanding the backgrounds and stories behind the countries and cultures that our patients come from. The more we learn about and engage with our residents, the more we understand their lives that were rich with love, laughter, service, work, pleasure, pain, and purpose. Our therapists are becoming specialist in evaluating patients from culturally diverse backgrounds to help preserve abilities, maintain cognitive linguistic function, and facilitate opportunities for each unique need.

The interventions included extensive communication with and support from family to identify cultural, social, recreational, professional, familial, religious, educational, historical and experiential factors that could be utilized within a plan of including group and individual interventions. We continue to build our resources to understand and address different cultures.

For our Spanish speaking residents, we encouraged the patient’s participation in creating PowerPoint presentations on their home countries of Chile, Bolivia, Peru, El Salvador and Mexico. We created presentations of musicians, including Julio Iglesias, Jose Jose, and Armando Manzanero. Families emailed me links to YouTube videos of favorite songs with the lyrics that patients who otherwise never speak have sung out loud. We have created material on Mariachi bands, flute music from Peru, Tangos, etc. We used smells, tastes, colors, sounds, routines, pictures, objects, scarves, maracas, a guitar, etc. to facilitate engagement and participation. We have also created materials that we are using to support verbal expression and comprehension, memory, attention, reminiscing, sequencing, following directions, turn taking, following a schedule, orientation to place, TOD, and activities of choice. We have residents who previously have never left their rooms who are now tooling around looking for opportunities to interact and be involved.

The quarterly SLUMS in Spanish test scores that we administered increased between 2 and 12 points for EVERY one of these residents. We have continued progress with residents and are programming more complex goals and tasks with reading and other more complex activities because we have not yet reached the patients’ potential. COVID has slowed the generalization of our social/group programming, but we look forward to resuming the resident-created Club Espanol, which operates three times a week for half an hour. Restorative and Recreational Therapy have been highly involved and supportive of these residents and efforts maintaining the program once established.

During COVID, we have created social scripts and we’ve enabled patients to be engaged in therapy with family members via Facebook video messenger all over the state and as far as Bolivia and France, which has been fun and rewarding for all. A bright moment in a difficult time.

Here are a few pictures from these sessions.


A favorite song with Spanish subtitles


Reading large print script on Manzaneras aloud


Following social script on call to son in Bolivia.


Life Story Board for one of our residents allowing others to know him better and him to share information about himself.

Skill in Place Considerations

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By Kelly Alvord, Therapy Resource – Sunstone

Goal of the Waiver: To keep beds open at the hospitals for more critical patients

Three things to consider to skill in place; however, please refer to our Ensign Affiliates Skill In Place Tool Kit that is available on the Portal for more detailed guidance:

1. Did the episode or change of condition occur after March 1, 2020, when the waiver went into effect? We are getting further away from this date, so this isn’t going to be as relevant.

2. Does the patient need Daily Skilled Services? 7x/week of Nursing Services and/or 5x/week of Therapy Services. This hasn’t changed for Medicare Daily Skilled Criteria. Therefore, keep in mind what is medically necessary to meet Medicare Part A criteria to assist you in determining if the resident is appropriate to be Skilled in Place.

3. Qualified Hospital Stay Considerations impacted by the COVID Emergency (keeping the hospital beds open)

● Bypass/skipping the hospital for bed access or to avoid exposure to COVID

o In the past, would we send or the provider send the patient to the hospital due to the change of condition? This needs to be an IDT discussion with the ultimate decision made by the physician. (See additional questions and considerations below.)

● Signs of or close exposure to COVID
o Are we isolating the patient and nursing is providing daily skilled care to assess the patient due to COVID, whether or not the patient has been tested positive to COVID?
o If we are waiting for the COVID test results, use the Med Dx of R09.89 and Z20.828.
o If the patient has a positive test or physician has diagnosed the patient with COVID, use the Med Dx U07.1 (only if the date of the test results or diagnosis is after April 1).

● Dislocation due to COVID
o Facility to Facility transfer due to the COVID emergency
o Caregiver Breakdown. Patient unable to stay home due to caregiver being exposed or positive for COVID.

Here are additional questions and things to consider:
Q: What if it’s already our practice to provide high acuity, daily interventions in order to avoid the hospital? Can we still apply the waiver?
A: Yes. The fact that you already have the necessary skills and policies does not preclude you from applying the waiver when the goal of those services is to avoid hospitalization.

Q: How can we tell if what we’re doing is routine, or applicable to the 3 day QHS waiver?
A: The decision is ultimately up to the physician (who must then write the order to initiate a skilled level of care). Collaborate with the attending doctor to reach a decision about whether the patient’s circumstances are impacted by the emergency as required by the waiver.

Final note: Many needs may arise due to decreased out-of-room activity, decreased community access and isolation from families. While these are emergency-related and should be treated, initiating a skilled stay requires that the needs rise to the level of requiring daily skilled interventions, and documentation must incontrovertibly support this. Most of these needs are properly managed with less than 5-7x/week interventions, and frequency should not be inflated in order to artificially justify a Part A stay.

Keep in mind that the skill in place process is new and has many factors to take into consideration. We have many resources available on the portal; please click on this link to take you to our Ensign Affils SIP Took Kit on the portal:

Your MDS and Therapy Resources are ready to help!

Taking Care of Ourselves - Take 2! DIY Home Fitness Ideas

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By Therapy Resources Brian Del Poso, OTR/L, CHC, RAC-CT and Jon Anderson, PT
In our last article (check out it out here), we talked about taking care of ourselves while we are adhering to Shelter in Place rules and fitness facilities are closed. Now I know we want to be optimistic about the beginning phases of re-opening businesses in our areas, but we, more than anyone else, are aware of the fight we still have ahead of us. So, let’s continue to stay active at home and be smart about social distancing with outdoor activity.
Let’s face it, with the challenges working in today’s era of COVID-19 healthcare, the amount of heart, physicality and emotion you pour out during a work day can get downright exhausting! This is why more than ever, even if exercising isn’t your thing, we encourage you to start and take care of your bodies … so if and when the time comes, your body will take care of you!

Previously, we focused on body weight exercises, but I know that might get old fast with some of you and you’d like some variety! Today we’ll provide some simple equipment ideas that you can DIY at home to take your workouts to the next level!

Slosh Pipe:

This is a 4 to 5 foot pipe filled halfway with water (1 gallon of water = about 8.3 lbs). The movement of the water creates an “unstable” weight. Performing movements using a slosh pipe will get your nervous system firing like crazy as you try to balance and stabilize the pipe while performing movements! Pro Tip: After you try it, think of the possibilities and effect a smaller version of this can have on neuromuscular re-ed for our patients!

How to make:
o Things you’ll need: 3 or 4 inch diameter PVC pipe, PVC pipe caps, and PVC glue from any big box home improvement store; a saw.
o Cut the pipe down (you can use a hacksaw for this) to 4 or 5 feet in length.
o Follow the instructions for the PVC pipe glue and glue 1 cap to an end of the pipe.
o Fill the pipe up about halfway with water (obviously A greater diameter and length of pipe will provide more weight).
o Glue on the other cap and slosh away!

What can I do with it? A TON of stuff, but to start you can do:
o Back squats
o Front squats
o Overhead presses
o Bicep curls
o Lunges
o Chest press from floor
o Trunk rotation (trunk twists, pipe swings, single oar rowing motions, etc.)

Medicine Ball/Slam Ball:

This is great if you have broken or unused basketball or soccer balls laying around.

How to make:
o Things you’ll need: Basketball or soccer ball, sand, exact-o knife, a funnel, duct tape.
o Take your ball and cut about a 2-3 inch circle with an exact-o knife, but DON’T completely cut out the circle! Leave some room so it’s still connected, but you can lift up the “flap.” Alternatively, you can cut an “X” into the ball to create an opening.
o Stick your funnel in your opening and fill with sand to your desired weight.
o Take your duct tape and thoroughly wrap around the ball in multiple directions to seal off your opening.

Things you can do:
o Ball slams
o Ball tosses
o Russian twists
o Anything you’d normally do with a medicine ball!

Weighted Backpack: You don’t have to be a workout warrior to take advantage of the health benefits of resistance training. This one is easy, adding weighted resistance to something as simple as walking will increase your strength and endurance.
How to make:
o Things you’ll need: A backpack and anything you can stuff in it!
o Take your backpack and stuff it with things to make it heavier (cans, clothes, your wonderful leadership books) … Ummmm, yea, and that about sums it up.
Things you can do:
o Cinch it up tight to your body and pretty much do ANYTHING moving … ’nuff said.

Buckets:

Got a bucket or 2 lying around the house? Well, fill them up with stuff (like sand, or you know, those leadership books again) and get to work!

Things you can do:
o Farmer’s walks
o Single arm shoulder presses
o Biceps curls
o Overhead triceps extensions
o Bucket swings (kettlebell swings) — Just make sure you use a smaller bucket, preferably with a lid!

Here’s a great example of a bucket workout using a 5-gallon bucket from our very own Jon Anderson:
Squat Curl to Press: A full body exercise.
Push-up With Feet Elevated: Exercise focusing on the pectoralis major of the chest while increasing the load by elevating the feet.

Lateral Lunge with Curl: Combination exercise targeting lower body muscles in a lateral movement as well as the biceps.

Bent Over Low Row: Exercise focusing on the latissimus dorsi of the back.

Deadlift: Exercise focusing on the hamstrings and gluteus maximus of the lower body.

Chopper Raise: A full body exercise.

Close Grip Tricep Push-up: A push-up alternative that puts greater emphasis on the triceps.

Reverse Lunge with Torso Rotation: Lower body exercise that also challenges balance and core strength.

Back Extension: Exercise focusing on using the erector spinae for stabilization of the spine.

Alternating 1 Leg Deadlift: Exercise that provides an increased load to the hamstrings and gluteus maximus of the lower body because it is performed on a single leg, which also adds a balance challenge.

A variety of other exercises could also be added or substituted using a bucket. Regardless of the exercise, perform each movement with special attention to proper technique. If starting out, consider creating and using a moderate weight that does not jeopardize form and feels like an exertion rating of a 5-8 on a scale of 1-10. Start by performing 1-2 sets of 10-15 repetitions, and as fitness increases, add additional sets.

Moments of Truth

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From Riverbend Post Acute Care, Kansas City, KS
By Madeana Galler, Therapy Resource

Riverbend nurses and therapists have united forces like never before. The two teams have joined forces to ensure the safety of all of their residents, and all the while gaining a deeper level of appreciation for one another through many Moments of Truth.

Jordanne Gerdes, COTA, and Amy Jacobs, PTA, have owned the shower schedule together with their partner CNAs. They also dried and styled the patients’ hair in preparation for Easter.

On April 9, 2020, TPM Justin Fricke’s church organized a prayer vigil for Riverbend, inviting the community via Facebook to come to the facility and pray over the facility, staff and residents. About 45 cars lined the parking lot, each person stayed in their car, a church member led the crowd in singing three hymns, followed by a short devotional on David and Goliath (overcoming COVID) and concluded with a prayer. There was an overwhelming feeling of support from the community, leaving many employees in tears of joy. Additionally, Justin’s wife’s work donated a truckload full of snacks and drinks to the facility.

Lisa Wainscott, OT, and her mother bought all the residents balloons. Lisa and Justin Smith, PT, personally passed out a balloon to each resident as a way of spreading love and gratitude.

Local restaurant, Mr. GoodcentsSubs, has donated grab-and-go style meals for the staff on a regular basis, and Plowboys BBQ donated meals for an entire week to the facility.

On April 13, 2020, Clinical Market Lead Maureen Purvis’ church family came to the facility and prayed over it.

Maureen Purvis, CML, Justin Fricke, TPM, Cory Schulte, ED and Jackie Brown, HR Resource, have been tirelessly and resolutely working together with the staff.

Facilities within the market sent handwritten posters with words of encouragement.

Sharing Gratitude

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From Agatha Pedro, OT/DOR, Timberwood Nursing & Rehabilitation, Livingston, TX
I have been listening to all of the therapy calls, and I just feel so lucky to be part of this organization because we have leaders like you! You inspire us to be better and to brave the unknown. In the past few weeks, there were days when I wondered if what I’m doing was worth it or if I’m making a difference. Yesterday, at the end of my day, I was reading my OT’s email about a new patient. She said that the patient has vascular dementia and he is slow to respond. He can answer simple commands, but you have to give him time to respond. He lives with his wife. I thought about his wife. She is probably worried not knowing how he is doing or if he is being taken care of. Because of his cognitive deficit, it is harder for her to talk to him over the phone, so that evening, I called her and updated her on how he did that day in therapy. She was so grateful and happy to hear about her husband, and toward the end of our conversation she said, “It is hard for him to express himself; he probably thinks that I abandoned him.” Then she started to cry. Of course that made me cry too, and both of us were quiet for a few seconds.

Sometimes, you think about whether it is all worth it. When patients and their families rely on you to take care of them, you have to give your best. I would want that for my parents. I’m blessed that I have my brother to take care of them while I’m thousands of miles away, that they are safe and healthy. I went home last night with a heavy heart but with joy knowing that we can make a difference.

By JB Chua, PT/DOR, Summerfield Healthcare, Santa Rosa, CA
I would like to encourage everyone to start your week with gratitude. A great leader once told me, “It’s not happiness that brings us gratitude. It’s gratitude that brings us happiness.” Today I am grateful for so many things:
● For my activities director, who asked me to play guitar for our residents last Friday. This helped me feel that I can offer additional support during these times when showing appreciation to your coworkers and patients are limited because of social distancing.
● For my ops manager, who made me realize that I am not alone with my struggles and there is someone out there who is willing to be the first follower and follow the lone nut.
● For my coworkers, who show up every single day, not because they need to but because they want to. One of my therapists was sent home a couple of weeks ago because she had an elevated temperature (99 degrees) and she was upset and crying. And the questions that she asked me as I told her that she needed to go home were: How about my patients? Who’s going to see them? Are you guys (therapy team) going to be alright without me? Those questions still give me goosebumps knowing that she is more concerned about our status than her health.
● For the therapy and clinical resources, the unsung heroes who keep on working day and night to help each and every facility to stay updated with regulations that keep us properly equipped in our daily battles, gathering information that can help us with our day-to-day operation that was affected by some new protocol because of COVID-19, and continue to cheer us on and support us on the sideline to give us the extra push that we definitely need. Mary, thank you for the great coherence exercise last Friday. It is embarrassing but I have to admit, it brought tears to my eyes as I reflected on the message that you gave during that session.
● Most of all, I thank you, DORs out there for keeping me inspired with all the things you do in your facility and community. Each day, I get in my car to go to work and I envision each one of you doing the same, ready to seize the day.

How Full is Your KUP?

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By Jack Rolfe, PT, MNA, CHC, RAC-CT, Senior Compliance Partner for Utah
Jack Rolfe is also the Founder and CEO of the School of Life Foundation (http://schooloflifefoundation.org/index.html). This 501(c)3 nonprofit organization has a mission to increase high school graduation rates. The following article was published in the Saint George Health & Wellness Magazine.

The phrase “my cup runneth over” is a biblical reference to receiving an abundance of blessings in life. I believe one of the greatest blessings we can experience is peace. As my physical body grows older and my hair turns a little whiter, my mind seems to ponder more deeply on all that I have learned. Recently, I spent time pondering the following question: How can we obtain true, ongoing peace in our lives? I would say this has been on my mind due to all of the current commotion in the world. Things are unsettled politically and economically. We hear and read about natural disasters, diseases, failed family relationships, and much more. At no other time in human existence has the world been more advanced in technology, knowledge, and resources, yet we appear to be at a low level with the virtue of peace.

During my reflection on this subject, I determined that the way to spell peace is KUP. For me, this acronym is defined as follows:
K = Kindness
U = Understanding
P = Patience

For the past few weeks, my aim has been to apply KUP in my life more each day. I make a conscious effort to apply these steps in all that I do. When I slip up, I reset and try even harder. Guess what? It has been working! As I apply kindness, understanding, and patience each day, my life is filled with an abundance of peace. Does the strife in the world go away? No, it does not. Does the world around me exude more calmness, tranquility, and order? Yes, it does! Thus, I conclude that increased peace comes into the world through my efforts.

Let’s briefly examine why this happens. First, let’s look at kindness. Did you know that performing acts of kindness lowers your blood pressure, relieves depression, boosts self-esteem, and reduces social anxiety by physically changing the brain? Kindness slows the ageing process by reducing wrinkles and promoting muscle regeneration. As if that wasn’t enough, kindness increases the chances of our relationships lasting, cures stress, and makes our lives happier overall. All this evidence is found in the research of former chemist David Hamilton. In his book The Five Side Effects of Kindness, Hamilton shares the scientifically proven health benefits of kindness and how these benefits can transform your life.

Next is understanding. In his book 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Stephen Covey explains the benefits of habit #5: “First seek to understand, then to be understood.” According to Covey, as we apply this principle in our lives, we gain true insight into the lives of others and into the circumstances that surround us. Our actions show others that we care. Thus, we build synergy and cause others to desire to understand us.

The final piece of the equation is patience. Numerous articles point to the fact that exercising patience in our lives brings about better mental and physical health, allows us to make better decisions, helps us develop compassion, and teaches us to appreciate the process of growth.

Each one of us may discover that our path to peace through kindness, understanding, and patience is achieved differently. That is okay! The key is to start down the path. So, I invite you to step back and ask yourself, “How full is my KUP?”

“Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.” – Ronald Reagan

Therapy/Nursing Partnership

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Submitted by Paola DeLuna, Therapy Resource
Hope Eaton (DON) and Sunny Chahal (DOR) at Eastview Healthcare in Houston, TX, have worked together for five years as a DOR/DON team. They both started working together while being new and have grown up by making mistakes together and finding solutions as a team. They call each other out on one another’s shortcomings and/or unproductive behaviors, but always make sure they genuinely apologize to one another when saying something inappropriate or something damaging to each other.

Having faith in each other, being honest with each other and building trust between them has allowed them to form a partnership where they can challenge each other. They admit their weaknesses and mistakes; they show “Love one another” by talking positively about each other; they are loyal and care about one another’s personal lives. They have created a partnership where they can push each other out of their comfort zone to initiate new programs that they both feel would benefit the facility and the residents.

Hope’s drive has pushed Sunny to implement programs like: Heart PARC Recovery program, Outpatient Therapy, Contracture Management and Wheelchair Positioning programs. The building had an IJ in the past due to wounds, and Hope partnered with Sunny and guided him to start a Wheelchair Positioning program for the LTC residents. The facility currently has 25% of the LTC residents in customized wheelchairs and have received no harm tags since then. Through accountability and ownership, they are passionate and unguarded in any discussion issues and have shown what a true partnership can accomplish.

Super Heroes at City Creek!

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By Gary McGiven, Therapy Resource, Milestone
The employees at City Creek Post-Acute in Salt Lake City, Utah, truly are superheroes. City Creek has partnered with the state to become a COVID-only building. As part of this partnership, City Creek was required to temporarily place their residents in sister facilities throughout the Salt Lake valley. This was a huge undertaking in and of itself and was the beginning of building something very special at City Creek.

In order to make this venture work, there needed to be some blurring of discipline lines with an “all hands on deck” approach. Those working in the facility needed to be on board with helping these residents in any way that was necessary. This meant therapy staff would spend time performing housekeeping, CNA and other duties in addition to treating patients for their therapy needs.

In speaking with Ray Yarman, the Director of Rehab at City Creek, she has expressed, many times, the appreciation she has gained for our nurses and CNAs as she and her staff have been working alongside them, in the COVID trenches. Ray says she wishes all therapy staff could gain this personal perspective of the amazing things our nurses and CNAs do on a daily basis. This experience will most definitely change the way Ray and her team operate, as they have bonded with the nursing staff and have built long-lasting relationships.

Many thanks to our amazing nurse partners for all that you do to give our residents the quality of life they deserve.