Share Your Tricks Of The Trade!

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After working at a nursing home for any length of time, you start to pick up tips and tricks that make life easier for you and your residents. Today I’m sharing a hodgepodge of nine tips I’ve learned over the years. Will you please help my readers by sharing your tips, too?

1. If a memory care resident dislikes having their nails trimmed, clip just one or two per day. There’s no law that says they all need to be done at once. (Just be sure it’s care planned.)
2. Are you doing a task where it would not be good to sneeze? Simply push your tongue as hard as you can toward the roof of your mouth close to your two front teeth. It will temporarily suppress the urge to sneeze.
3. If a resident isn’t eating well, try rotating their plate. Sometimes they simply can’t see all the food because of visual deficits.
4. Does your resident need to have a ring removed? Before you resort to having the ring cut off, try any of these lubricants: thick hand lotion, petroleum jelly, vegetable oil, butter, hair conditioner, or Windex (yes, really!).
5. When a resident needs new shoes but can’t go shopping with their family, trace around their bare foot on a piece of cardboard when their feet are flat on the floor. This will provide an estimate of their shoe size and width when you get to the store.
6. Do your memory care residents often misplace their glasses? Upon admission, take a picture or make a photocopy of everyone’s glasses. Place the pictures in a 3-ring binder along with the resident’s name. When you find a lost pair of glasses, you can quickly flip through the binder and find the owner.
7. Do you need to enter a room where there’s a foul odor (stool, cancer, etc.)? Put a small dab of toothpaste, peppermint oil, or Vicks VapoRub on the outside of your face mask to distract from the odor.
8. Nursing homes always seem to be short on pens. Next time you go to a trade show, get a free pen at every vendor booth and donate them to the nursing home.
9. Does your visually impaired resident have difficulty finding the correct buttons on their TV remote control? Try putting raised crafting dots on the buttons they use most often.

Now it’s your turn! What can you add?