Quarterly Updatenews from Vincentian Home and

HospitalSpring 2018

Botanic gardens tulip display

Christmas is now well and truly on the horizon and residents have been busy making Christmas angels and the Christmas cake will be baked in late November. The Residents Christmas Party will be held Saturday 8 th

December, details on the back of this newsletter and we would love to see as many people as possible celebrating the day together.

With the warmer weather we have roses in full bloom at the entrance way to the Home and spring flowers in the back garden. The flowering cherry tree donated by the family of Jack and Dorothy Skinner is looking beautiful and being enjoyed by all the visiting birds.

TRIBUTES

It was with sadness that we said goodbye to one of our more memorable residents in August. It’s very hard on the staff to farewell our residents as they become such a part of their daily lives.

Ron A. – Ron was quite a character around the home and certainly had a mind of his own. He was a great help to Cathy and especially loved it when the kindergarten kids visited. Ron had been with us for almost two years. A small funeral was held in Kilbirnie and it was wonderful to hear all the stories of Ron’s earlier life.

QUALITY CARE SERVICES

Sue was on leave for two weeks in August for her third visit to Niue and some rest and relaxation. Rosie, our Quality Co-ordinator was also on leave during August and September visiting Brazil. She and her husband also spent time in the Pantanal area which is well known for its wild jaguars. While Sue was away the Home was managed very well by our Clinical Manager, Mario, with a great deal of support from Jan at the front desk. After Sue returned Mario left for a three week holiday back to his home country, Italy.

As mentioned in the previous newsletter we have been doing a lot of work to upgrade the Vincentian Home website. This finally went live in July and we are all very pleased with the end result. We encourage you to have a look at vincentianhome.co.nz. Our thanks to Werner Kaffl, photographer, who did such a great job on the outside photos of the Home. Not being a computer wizard Sue has been having lessons on how to keep the website updated and how to make changes – she is making slow but steady progress….

In August the photographer who took the exterior photos of the Home returned to take a staff photograph to appear on the front page of the Wellington Catholic Homes Trust’s Annual report. Staff and volunteers were encouraged to wear mufti or their national costumes for the photograph and a great deal of fun was had trying to get the perfect shot. Directors from the Vincentian Board of Management were also invited to take their place in the photograph.

STAFFINGCongratulations to Indhu, one of our registered nurses who left Vincentian in August and delivered a baby girl in September. We wish Indhu and her family

all the very best as they settle into their new home in Upper Hutt. Indhu is due to commence her studies for a PhD in February so will be a very busy mother!

As we said farewell to Indhu we welcomed Mili Karunakaran as our newly employed Registred Nurse. Mili did her training in India and graduated in 2009. She worked as an Assistant Lecturer for a College of Nursing in Bangalore before coming to New Zealand in 2015. Mili worked as a senior caregiver in a New Plymouth aged care facility before gaining her New Zealand nursing registration. Mili also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Management which she gained in Rotorua. We feel very fortunate that Mili has chosen Vincentian to begin her New Zealand nursing career.

Welcome also to our three new caregivers, Savanah, Corrine and Jackie.

Savanah had previously worked at Irwell Rest Home before taking some time off to travel. On her return she decided she would like to extend her caregiving skills and work in a Home with hospital level care residents.Corrine and Jackie both come to us from the Philippines.

Corrine is a radiographer in her home country and while in New Zealand has completed a Diploma in Business management with a specialisation in Health Care Services. Jacki has an accounting background so caregiving is a new endeavor for her and she is certainly enjoying the challenge.

SATISFACTION SURVEYIt’s that time of year again where we will be asking you to complete our “Resident’s Satisfaction Survey”. This survey is your chance to tell us how you feel about the service we are providing. The comments you make enable us to aim at improving areas where you feel we could be doing better. All

replies are confidential and a summary of the results and actions we intend to take will be available in the next newsletter. If you have not received a questionnaire and wish to complete one they are available from Jan at the front desk. Please do fill one out, we value your opinions.

ENTERTAINMENT AND ACTIVITIES Springtime is meant to herald the arrival of better weather and to a great degree it has done just that. Residents have been able to shed some of their winter woollies and start to enjoy some outdoor activities.

In August the residents enjoyed some great musical and dance visitors, went on a drive up to the top of the Cable Car and walked to the lookout; out to Uncle Bills where everyone was absorbed in the quirky merchandise for almost an hour and a small group went to see Mama Mia 2 followed by lunch out with two of our caregivers. A special Celebrity Quiz was held this month and involved a morning of dressing up and “guessing who”

Spring officially arrived on the 1st September and we kicked this off with residents colouring spring flowers and umbrellas for our spring art installation in the main dining room ready for our Spring Dance.

The Spring Dance was the highlight of September when we were joined by the Chelsea Club and volunteers from St Vincent DePaul and St Mary’s as well as our own volunteers and some extra staff. This meant the dance floor was a sea of moving chairs and able bodies all in rhythm to the music. A great time was had by all dancing for an hour or so and then being treated to a scrumptious afternoon tea including lamingtons made by the residents. The dining room looked amazing with the coloured flowers attached to the rafters.

Other activities in September included an outing to Petone Settlers Museum and to Karori Cemetery. The afternoon in Karori was a glorious day to walk a length of path viewing the graves and enjoying the sunshine. The history, grave stones, plaques and the vastness of the place was all of interest.

This month the regular visit to the Home of Compassion included entertainment by the Sacred Heart Orchestra and singers with an array of instruments and many ukuleles. Everyone who went loved every minute.

A final treat in September was two visits to the Botanical gardens to see the tulips and they certainly did not disappoint. The groups walked up to the duck pond and slowly back through the riot of colour. It was very tempting to be humming “tip toe through the tulips” as we walked!

We now have reliable wireless internet available in the main lounge which has opened up many opportunities for activities. A fun morning was had when the residents choose somewhere on the world map to visit and Cathy can project the relevant video from the net onto the large screen to enjoy a “virtual visit” to the chosen destination. Home countries, well known places and places no-one had ever been were all “visited”.

October activities included two outings, one to the Garden centre and one to Bunnings to get the gardens ready for our snow peas and tomatoes. Marigolds were bought for our patio pots to provide a splash of colour.

Cathy will be away for a couple of weeks in November to attend her son’s wedding in Malaysia. While she is away, Kyra, one of our senior caregivers will be in charge of the recreation programme and when she is not available Mary Grace will help with the programme.

Please put a note in your diary for Saturday 8th

December commencing 1.30pm

Last year was great fun with entertainment, lots of food generously supplied by all the guests, and the favourite of many, a slide show looking back over the activities of the Home for the past 12 months. Make sure you set aside the afternoon to come and join us.

Please bring a plate