Opportunities

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. 

As I described in my recent post entitled “What To Expect In The New Year“, I’m noticing that many of the people who visit my blog aren’t volunteers. I’m hearing from nurses, activities professionals, family members, and a variety of other people associated with nursing homes.

Therefore, I’ve decided to include an occasional guest article on my blog. After all, many of you have stories and ideas that reach far beyond my areas of expertise. I know your input will be very helpful to my readers!

[Read more…] about New Opportunity For Guest Bloggers

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. 

Did you know that thousands of people are currently waiting for a bone marrow transplant to save their lives? And did you know that only about 50% will ever find that match?

You can help save one of these lives by hosting a donor drive at your nursing home in 2018. If that’s not possible, please consider adding your name to the marrow donor registry. Here’s what you need to know:

Who can donate marrow?

The ideal age is 18-44 as this assures the greatest chance of transplant success. Many people believe that the criteria for donating marrow are the same as for donating blood, but this isn’t true. Even if you’ve been declined as a blood donor in the past, you may still be able to donate marrow. You do need to be in good health to donate marrow, so there are medical conditions that may restrict you from donating.

[Read more…] about How To Save A Life

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. 

This will be my fifth year as a Salvation Army bell ringer, and I always look forward to the experience. People are so generous and gracious, and this truly becomes a highlight of the Christmas season.

When we think of the Salvation Army, we usually picture people serving meals in a homeless shelter. Yes, they provide 56 million free meals every year, but they do so much more. Here are just a few examples:

• Provide emergency shelter and transitional housing
• Assist people dealing with substance abuse
• Support victims of domestic violence and human trafficking
• Offer bill payment help for low-income families
• Assist during natural disasters and provide long-term disaster recovery

[Read more…] about How To Be A Salvation Army Bell Ringer

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. 

Several years ago, when I worked at the nursing home, one of our residents asked for information on how he could become an organ donor. I must confess that I wrongly assumed he was too old. Thankfully, one of our social workers put him and his wife in contact with someone from an organ donation organization. When he died two years later, he was able to donate bone tissue to improve the lives of other people.

Like me, most people believe there is a cut-off age where a person can no longer become an organ donor after death. In reality, they base the ability to donate on medical criteria & not on age. (The oldest recorded donor I could find was a 92-year-old man. After dying of a brain hemorrhage, his liver was donated to a 69-year-old woman.) It’s important to remember, too, that even though some of a person’s organs may not be healthy enough to donate, they may have other tissues (such as bone or corneas) that are usable.

[Read more…] about How Old Is Too Old To Be An Organ Donor

This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated (at no extra cost to you) when you make a purchase by clicking on my links. 

If your nursing home is anything like ours, I suspect a lot of people drink soda during their breaks. Here’s a great way your employees can band together to support hurricane relief.

Underneath the cap of many Coke products, you’ll find a code. Codes are also printed on the inside of many multi-pack boxes. The Coca-Cola company is currently donating between 5 and 38 cents to the Red Cross for each code you enter online. (You can check here to see how many cents each code is worth.)

First, you’ll need to go here and set up an account with the Coca-Cola Give program. Then you can either scan your codes or enter them manually.

[Read more…] about An Easy Way To Help With Hurricane Relief