Caring For Elderly Parents: Top 10 Concerns | cdaamerica

Posted on February 15, 2011 by cdaamerica| Leave a comment

By AgingCare.com

Parents care for their children, to strengthen body and mind, and
nurture them forward to independence. Siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and even friends and neighbors often join in the family circle, helping to care for the kids. Such is what caregiving is all about, a nurturing,
supportive commitment by family and extended family members. Many of us have the opportunity to return that same level of commitment and support to Mom, Dad or both as they age.

It is time to return the favor, not just individually, but as a family, to
provide support where necessary and preserve your parents’ ability and
independence as long as possible. What are the 10 most important family concerns in caregiving for a parent? Consider:

1. Rally the Troops

Deborah Halpern, Communications Director for the non-profit National Family Caregiver’s Association, urges that caregiving your parent is not a one-person job or burden. Instead, you should have a family team that includes friends and neighbors, each with a role and responsibility in the caregiving process. There must be a ringleader, according to Halpern, who contacts each family member with the invitation or challenge to”step up to the plate and help.”

Consider the team concept as akin to hiring for different jobs in a company.
Everyone is good at something, while he or she may be inept or less than
qualified in another task or field. When several family members are involved,
even for just a few hours each week, the burden on the primary caregiver is
reduced significantly. Sharing responsibilities also brings more family members
into active contact, sharing, support, monitoring, understanding and visiting
with Mom or Dad.

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Asperger’s Syndrome: Struggling to Be Next to Normal « Fern Life Center

My oldest child, Cameron, who is now 21 years old, was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) when he was in 5^th grade. He is graduating next semester with a four-year college degree and an intention to proceed to graduate school. Any parent with a child on the “Autistic Spectrum” will recognize the journey that we took to get to that diagnosis and to this place. I am writing this blog to help others out there who are teachers, caregivers, family members, friends, and/or healthcare providers of these very special kids. I say special not in a sense of somehow handicapped, but special as in unique and with something to offer the world that comes through a lens of rigorous authenticity. People with AS are known for their unrelenting honesty and inability to tell even the whitest of lies to please another. What a wonderful gift for society to receive; members who have integrity that is so deeply ingrained that it is actually almost impossible to lie.

The reason I had my child evaluated was because of a parent teacher conference gone bad. Cameron’s 5^th grade teacher felt I was too “enmeshed” with him and was milking the system for the individualized educational plan (IEP) he had in place. She felt that he would function just fine without my “interference”. His IEP stipulated he was to have someone sit next to him at the front of the room that didn’t fidget or interrupt in class. That particular 5^th grade class was full of boys who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Cameron was falling through the cracks. There had never been such a distorted ratio of boys with ADHD and so few girls in this elementary school before and the teachers were at their wits’ end trying to teach them and maintain order. Kids with AS frequently sit in class and daydream of their latest passionate interest and can get lost in the river of education as a result. I had asked for one of the quiet, steady girls to sit next to him so he wouldn’t get distracted and come home not knowing what was discussed in class.

When the teacher told me I was the problem, I thought to myself, “maybe she’s right, maybe Cameron and I should both be tested and see what is going on. Let’s face it, I AM stressed that my son doesn’t pay attention in class, is distracted on the soccer field by an ant hill, hums quietly to himself at the dinner table, and doesn’t get invited to birthday parties. Maybe reading about birds of prey, building mobiles of birds of prey, going to the Museum of Natural History in Salt Lake City for the birds of prey exhibit EVERY WEEK, making masks that represent birds of prey, doing a hawk on his birthday cake, and generally immersing myself into the world of birds of prey with Cameron is a big mistake. (Birds of prey were his current passion and he could tell you EVERYTHING about the subtlest feature of each of the birds of prey in the wild you could possibly want…and much, much, more).

via fernlifecenter.com

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Website offers top tips on caring for people with learning disabilities | News | Nursing Times

A new website, offering practical tips on supporting people with learning disabilities, is proving popular with healthcare providers for its hands-on approach.

www.Netbuddy.org.uk provides solutions to issues many learning disability nurses will recognise, such as: how to administer medicines comfortably, how to manage constipation, how to communicate with someone who is non-verbal and how to cope with challenging behaviour.

All the tips are contributed by people with first-hand experience of learning disability.

Netbuddy co-founder Deborah Gundle said: “Netbuddy appeals to healthcare professionals because the advice is very practical, and it comes directly from people with everyday experience of learning disability. It’s a goldmine of useful information from people who really know what they’re talking about.

Since www.Netbuddy.org.uk launched in September 2010, the site has had thousands of hits from parents, carers and healthcare providers - either picking up ideas or contributing tips.

“Parents immediately recognised how useful Netbuddy could be and started using it straight away,” said Deborah. “Now we are getting more healthcare professionals to the site, which is fantastic. We particularly want to hear from learning disability nurses, as they will have lots of useful ideas to pass on.

“We really believe that Netbuddy can make a huge difference in providing excellent quality of care for people with learning disabilities.”

via nursingtimes.net

Parents, caregivers of special needs children will find this article of interest.

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856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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Nurses Blast Obama Administration for Removing OSHA Safety Rule on ADVANCE for Nurses

National Nurses United (NNU) is sharply criticizing the Obama administration for a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Tuesday to withdraw a rule requiring employers to report musculoskeletal injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). "This is a disturbing sign that the Obama administration may be putting the economic interests of employers ahead of the safety of nurses and other working people," says Karen Higgins, RN, co-president of the 160,000-member nurses union.  The decades-old rule reportedly was pulled by the DOL at the request of the White House's Office of Management and Budget. The decision, according to NNU, "coincides with the recent announcement by the Obama administration that it intends to pursue deregulation of rules opposed by corporate interests. "Nursing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S., and nurses are especially subject to serious back and other musculoskeletal injuries," says Higgins. "One step we can take to keep nurses safe and at work is to have an accurate picture of when and how they are hurt on the job."

via nursing.advanceweb.com

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Dry hands makeover, Scrubsmag.com

Image: © iStockphoto.com

If your hands are sore, split, chapped or even bleeding from the constant hand-washing that is a necessary part of a nurse’s life, don’t despair that you’ll never have soft hands again. That’s because a wide array of products and practical tips can help salvage even the roughest hands.

The key is that just as you’ve developed the habit of constantly washing your hands, you can also make it a continual practice to provide a little hand TLC.

To help restore your dry and sore hands:

1. Cover up. Be extra vigilant to protect your hands from the elements—and that means gloves or mittens whenever you’re outside during the cold weather, even if only for a few minutes.

2. Change your technique. When washing your hands, use warm or cold water, never hot. Ask for approval to use a gentler hand soap, such as Cetaphil, Aveeno or Dove. Avoid hand soaps that have alcohol, which can not only be drying and irritating, but can sting your raw skin. When drying your hands, blot, don’t rub. If possible, use cotton towels, not paper towels, which can be irritating to the skin and even cause some allergic reactions.

3. Use the glove treatment. For many nurses, latex gloves or those containing powder can be a real irritant to chapped or split skin. One option is to slip on thin cotton gloves, which can be found in drug stores, before putting on latex gloves.

4. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Lightweight lotions don’t cut it for most nurses, since the constant hand-washing takes a much greater toll on the skin. That’s why any moisturizing product should have a thick consistency—you should be able to put a dollop on your hand, and when you turn your hand over, it won’t budge. Some good options: Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream, Aquaphor Healing Ointment, Eucerin Plus, Bag Balm and Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. The key is using lotion often—each time you wash your hands, if possible. Buy the travel sizes to keep at your desk or in your pocket. A note of caution: Check with infection control before adopting this practice, as some lotions can affect the integrity of gloves and may even cause tears.

5. Protect split skin. While it can sting when applying, using a liquid bandage product such as one by Band-Aid can keep your hands from bleeding and prevent a split from getting worse. Remember, an open wound can get infected.

6. Practice good habits at home. Use your off hours to be extra kind to your hands. Wash with a gentle soap such as those mentioned above, and always wear gloves when using any cleaning product. Slather on a good moisturizer right before bed, then don cotton gloves or cotton socks so the moisture can deeply penetrate the skin overnight.

Finally, if your hands continue to get worse, see a dermatologist. You may need treatment that you can’t get over the counter.

Tags: Beauty

via scrubsmag.com

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