Satisfaction Surveys

Wondering how many facilities do Resident and Family Satisfaction Surveys?  We do them every year.  On it , there is one question related to activities/recreation.  Part of my annual review, and therefore my raise is based on the results of that survey.  This is challenging.  Since only about 1/2 they surveys get filled out and returned, it doesn't take much to sway the results into a lower score.  The respondents can answer Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor to any question.  The facility wants excellent.  A good response is not good enough.  Personally I am happy with all Goods and excellent replies.    The challenge is the families.  When families are filling out the surveys,(if a resident can't fill it out themselves) and they don't come in the the facility often, they have no idea of the hard work and dedication of the activity staff and no idea of the quality and variety of programs.   Does anyone else do surveys and how do you address them in your facility?

Nursing Home Week

Happy Nursing Home Week everyone.  I recently went to a Dementia training where the speaker was talking about moving away from celebrating life in the nursing home.  What does everyone think of that?  I have never been one to plan lots of big crazy events.  I feel that most of our residents don't love being here, and it confuses others, and quite frankly it is a lot of work!  With everything we do on a daily basis, Nursing home week celebrations can be exhausting.   Don't get me wrong, we do have several big events this week, but I don't hype it up as much as I use to.  With Nurses week and CNA week around the same time, there is so much going on!  What does everyone do at their facility?

Dog Show

April is Dog Appreciation month.  Each April we have a Dog Show at our facility.  We let staff and families know the date ahead of time and ask them to bring in their friendly dogs on a leash , if the dogs shots are up to date.  Prior to the dog show, the residents make homemade dog biscuits.  We give each dog a goodie bag of treats.  They are delicious, usually peanut butter based, or garlic and cheese.
When each dog arrives, before entering the room we ask the owner to fill out a short info sheet about the dog.  Ie, Name, breed, age, favorite activities, any tricks or other info.  Then each dog gets a few minutes in front of the crowd.  After all dogs have their time on stage, they have time to wander the crowd, and say hello to everyone.  The owners decide if their dog can handle visits with load of people.  The main activity room has a courtyard right off the room, so dogs can also take a break outside if need be.   We award a "best of show" which the residents vote on by cheering for their favorites. 
The dog show is one of the favorite activities of the year for our residents.  They look forward to it for months!