In the news again!

Saturdays Herald devoted a two page spread on yet another complaint about an aged care facility. I feel for the grieving family.

However it is clear that Geoff Harper has a real gripe about Aged Care as this is not the first artilce he has written or been involved in about Aged care. He is against multi-nationals coming in to New Zealand.

To a certain extent I understand his gripe but at the end of the day because I am care focused, it comes from the calibre of staff employed. The employer is superflouous. It is a training issue.

However talking about scabies. Once it gets into a facility it is extremely hard to irradicate. The itch keeps coming back and flare ups are common. I have been involved in a facility that had a scabies outbreat and it kept coming back for 3 years.

What surprises me is that scabies wasn't treated in the first instance. Whenever there is a person with a rash dermatolgy say - Treat for scabies first. Early detection and treatment is what controls such outbreaks.

Scabies is rife now in New Zealand and not only in Aged Care facilities. It is also resistant to a lot of treatment available. It, like many other infection and infestation, have mutated to ensure the survival of the species. It seems the harder humans get to eradicate bugs the smarter the bugs or mites become.

So what is the answer?

1. Infection control principles. The most important is Hand Washing.
2. Observation skills of staff - early reporting will help to control these infestations.
3. Training

In the end this is what it comes down too. Increasing knowledge improves care. This is what it boils down too.

Time for a funny

This is a true story. It was told to me last night by one of the Rotary members of the club I belong to. It actually happened to him.

This man was fishing in his little boat off the shores of Omaha. He lowered the fishing line over the side of the boat and very shortly he got a bite - an boy was it a big bite.

He reeled in this mighty catch getting very excited. OOOOOO I've got a big one here. Fish Killer strikes again.

He struggled and pulled on his rod and reeled in his catch. He was so excited but his excitement changed to amazmene whe he got it to the surface and up popped a head. He had caught a DIVER!

Yes that is right. He snagged a human and dragged it to the surface. Now I don't know about you but at this point I get some very vivid pictues in my head. I just wish I was a cartoonist!

According to the diver he wondered whatever was happening. He was minding his own business swimming along under water when suddenly he feels this tug and he cant get away from it. He had no idea what was happening.

Guess this is a novel way to make friends!

This is certainly a tall story, but it is true. One I think that will keep grandchildren amused for years. The one that didn't get away.

Knowing right from wrong

It turns out the person who stole the money off a lady with dementia was the wife of a detective. Surely she would know right from wrong. There is no grey area in this case - taking from someone else is wrong!

While I know we do not know the circumstances behind this case the mere fact of taking something from someone else without their permission is wrong.

How often do caregivers in their daily care inadvertently take from those in their care. I am talking about taking away their independence their right to choice the freedom to speak for themselves.

A person I know who is in care told me the other day that one caregiver wouldnt listen to her when she said what she wanted to wear. She told her NO something else that the caregiver chose was better. So this person had to wear something she didn't like.

This is disempowerment. A caregiver's role is to encourage a person to make decisions for themselves and accept what they choose. Not take the power of choice away from them.

Still we see people taking advantage of those less fortunate

I note in the NZ Herald that a Tauranga woman stole $10,000 from an elderly lady who had dementia. What made this worse she was actually living with this woman. To her defense she felt guilty and told a family member. Her sentence 5 months home detention

This is not an isolated case. Too often we hear of people taking advantage of the vulnerable elderly. What goes on in these people's minds?

I guess it is more of what I discussed Monday. It is the ME society. What can I get rather than what I can give.

What has the world come to?

Reading this morning’s NZ Herald where children as young as 10 or less were threatening people who did not give them sweets for Trick or Treating last night. On top of that there were families transporting children to the more affluent areas for Trick or Treating hoping for better pickings.

What has the world come to? Where are the instillation of values in these families? It beats me!

I personally am not a fan of Halloween. It is a very American thing that has come in over the last few years. I certainly wasn’t brought up with it but then life was a lot simpler back then. The big event of the year was Guy Fawkes. Yes we celebrated a person who wanted to blow up the English Parliament!!

Having said all this, I am not against progress or change. What bothers me most is the behaviour of society. If children are not given sound boundaries and values, where is this society heading to?

Now I am not saying it was all wonderful when I grew up but I sure as hell learnt about the values of gratitude, and respect among others. I learnt that when I was given a gift (even a sweet is a gift) I said thank you, even it if I didn’t really like the sweet I had received.

I learnt that being respectful (courteous and polite) actually received many more rewards than being nasty and disrespectful. Pretty simple logic isn’t it. Why are so many of our children not instilled with these very basic principles these days?

What I also find somewhat disturbing is some of the children causing these problems come from God faring homes. Families who go to church on a regular basis yet somehow these values are escaping being of importance. Is this not part of the religious teaching these days?

So what are we going to do about it? Well I am sorry I don’t have the answers.
All I can say is that I feel proud and comfortable that I have instilled these values in my own children and they will instill them in their children. That is the best I can come up with.

I am not going to put another load on to our school teachers either. I think they do a wonderful job. However they could use a tool such as the virtues in their teaching. It may make things much easier for them in the long run.

I am going to lay the blame firmly back on the parents or parent of the childre. I don’t care if it a one or two parent family, these values start in the home. They come from parents being respectful towards each other and their children and the parents appreciating everyone. You don’t need a two parent family for this to occur.

I was a single parent for many years yet I still managed to set these very basic values into my children. These are learned behaviours and they can be learned. If we go back to the basics of teaching values and the art of giving and receiving we will start to see some changes.

It is time for us to teach our children to think about not what they can get from others but rather what can I give to others. This is a basic law -the art of giving and receiving and it has served society for centuries. For what you give out will return a ten fold dividend – be it time, money, respect, appreciation, love, joy. Pretty simple really don’t you think?

The power of clarity

I have been having a few problems with my dog not coming to me when I call him, running off doing his own thing and almost saying "I am going to do as Ii like".

Well I decided this was going to stop. Serious behaviour training was called for. (I sound like the Nanny programmes dont I)

An interesting thing happened as a result. The moment I committed to it and decided to take action everything changed. He suddenly became very obedient and no longer runs away from me plus he is more content and happy.

So why did this happen?

It is the power of two words - Commitment and Clarity. Once I got clear and I became committed to taking action things changed.

The same thing happens in our everyday life. If things are not working for you as well as you would like take a look at how clear you are on what you are wanting to achieve and how committed you are to achievign it. Once you identify these two areas be prepared to be amazed by rapid results.

Happiness

Talking about happiness what is happiness? Is it a state of wellbeing? A state of inner peace? A sense of wholeness?

I guess it is something very individual however I think it is a state that many people have lost or forgotten what it feels like.

When did you last have a belly laugh? Something that rocks and shakes your whole insides. When did you last burst into peels of laughter?

For me it has been quite a long time. The art of laughter seems to have passed me by. Are you in the same boat?

To examine this a little more for myself living on my own there is not a lot of opportunities to break out into a belly laugh. Sure when I go out I enjoy myself and I smile and laugh but it is not a belly laugh that often.

Recently I went to a friends place for dinner. I didnt acutally know it was her birthday nor did i know any of the people there apart from her. There was a just a small gathering.

Before I left home I would have given anything to stay home. I was tired. I had a headache but I said i would go to dinner so I went.

After dinner my friends brother devised a quiz on how much did we know about his sister. Well I have to say we didnt know a lot but what did happen we had a lot of laughs. It has to be one of the best nights out I have had for a long time.

The final note here was I found my laughter germ again and my headache went. I come home relaxed and had a wonderful nights sleep. Stark reminder of how easy it is to lose the art of laughter. Have your lost your laughter germ too?