South Shore Nursing and Rehabilitation would like to recognize resident Bonnie Gallagher’s Success Story! Bonnie came to us in December 2021 after hurting her ankle. During her stay here for the last 6 months, all of our Care Team members had come to love Mrs. Bonnie. Her bright eyes and smiles made our day.  During National Nursing Home Week, we got to see Bonnie in the talent show.  She put on a show with her singing her heart out. We are so proud of her and her work with therapy so that she can get back home to her family, but we are going to miss her so much. Thank you, Bonnie and your family, for allowing us to be part of your care. We wish you the best of luck!

During National Nurses Week, take time to celebrate the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale! Her endeavors to improve the aspect of healthcare has greatly shaped the quality of care by nurses in the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Currently, there are nurses all around the world putting their lives on the line to help stop the spread of COVID-19. It’s clear that Florence Nightingale’s impact on healthcare also helped pave the way for modern-day nurses and healthcare professionals to follow suit.

“With nurses around the world on the front lines of a global pandemic, it’s a poignant time to reflect on how Nightingale’s legacy laid the groundwork for their heroic work in hospitals today.” Says Greta Westwood, CEO of the Florence Nightingale Foundation. “She never took no for an answer – anything was possible.”

Also known as “The Lady with the Lamp”, Florence Nightingale started her nursing career in London, and later became appointed as the head nurse of the 1854 Crimean War. Nightingale’s passion and determination set her apart from others and got her the famous nickname “Lady with the Lamp” for checking on her patients via lamplight during the war. Not only did she care for her patients’ health, but she also often wrote letters to soldiers’ loved ones on their behalf.

The “Angel of the Crimea” made it her goal to lower death rates by improving hygiene practices in hospitals. She created numerous patient services that improved each patient’s quality of care while admitted in the hospital. She oversaw “invalid’s kitchen” where she set out food plans for patients that had dietary requirements. She also secured a laundry area so patients could have clean bed sheets and towels.

After the Crimean War, Nightingale wrote a book called Matters Affecting the Health, Efficiency and Hospital Administration of the British Army to share her observations and experiences while tending wounded soldiers. In 1857, the War Office’s administrative department was completely reconstruction due to Nightingale’s book and her experiences during the Crimean War, reforming several military hospitals that were under very poor conditions. (History.com Editors 2009)

In August of 1910, Nightingale became ill and was battling with heart failure. She died a week later at her home in London, bringing her life to an end at 90 years old. (History.com Editors 2009) Two years after her death, the Florence Nightingale Medal was created by the International Committee of the Red Cross, dedicated to be given to exceptional nurses every 2 years. In 1965, International Nurses Day was also created, residing on Nightingale’s birthday to continue celebrating her accomplishments. (Alexander 2018)

Despite her unexpected death, her legacy continues to live on at the Florence Nightingale Museum, which is located at the exact same spot of the original Nightingale Training School for Nurses. The museum holds over 2,000 artifacts to memorialize the mother of modern nursing. (History.com Editors 2009)

Florence Nightingale’s legacy is important to note during significant time for nurses courageously fighting on the frontlines during the pandemic. Notes Westwood, “Florence would be so proud of what nurses have managed to achieve during the pandemic.” (Haynes 2020)

References:

https://time.com/5835150/florence-nightingale-legacy-nurses/

http://history.com/topics/womens-history/florence-nightingale-1https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/florence-nightingale

We are preparing for an amazing celebration of National Nurses Week this year! Many companies are showing their gratitude for nurses and healthcare workers by offering awesome deals and freebies during Nurses Week and throughout the year. Whether you are a healthcare worker looking for a good deal or you’re shopping for a healthcare hero in your life, check out these great deals valid for the entire month of May for Nurses Week 2022!

Food & Drinks

• Mrs. Fields – Take a look online at this sweet selection of cookies in the Heroes Collection of cookie tins, which honors healthcare workers.
• Outback Steakhouse – Grab a hot meal and a big thank you! Show your industry identification to get 10% off your bill. The discount is not available via ordering online.
• Texas de Brazil – Enjoy a night or lunch out with a delicious selection of steaks (salads too!) and save 15% with a valid badge or ID.

Retail

• Amazon – Curl up with a selection of four free medical drama books, specially curated to celebrate nurses.
• Adidas – Receive 30% off in-store and on the Adidas website, and 20% off at factory outlet stores, when you verify your status as a nurse with ID.me.
• All Seasons Uniforms – Spruce up your closet with 20% off all medical apparel, such as scrubs, lab coats, and cleanroom clothing. Use discount code NURSE20.
• ASICS – Medical professionals and first responders, including nurses, physicians, police officers, and firefighters, can enjoy 40% off ASICS products. When you verify your healthcare worker status using SheerID, you will receive a on-time-use promo code.
• Brooklyn Bedding – Don’t snooze on this offer. Get 25% off and free shipping on your entire order of mattresses, pillows, sheets, and/or foundations. Verify your eligibility via ID.me during checkout.
• Lenovo – Need to upgrade your technology? Take an extra 5% off products sitewide, excluding doorbuster deals and select clearance products. Verify your healthcare worker status with ID.me during checkout.
• L.L. Bean – Enjoy 15% off one purchase after verifying your employment status through SheerID. This discount is valid on merchandise purchases are llbean.com, retail stores, or by phone.
• Lululemon – Receive 15% off in-store or online purchases.
• Nike – All medical professionals and first responders in the US are eligible for a 10% discount. Verify your profession as a nurse with SheerID to get a one-time-use promo code.
• Purple – Take 10% off any order purchased at purple.com or Purple retail showrooms, after verifying employment status through SheerID. Click on the “Verify Eligibility” button to start the process. Once approved, you will receive a single-use promotional code to use at checkout.
• Ring – Stay safe with a 20% discount savings on select Ring Doorbell products.
• Rothy’s – Enjoy some cool comfort with 20% off a pair of washable shoes. Verify your nurse status and claim the savings at online checkout.
• Under Armour – Take advantage of 20% off at UA.com and in UA Brand House stores. Choose the Military and First Responder Discount at checkout, and then verify your status as a nurse with ID.me.
• Verizon – You and your loved ones can get a Start Unlimited plan (with unlimited talk, text, and data) from $30 per line with four lines. That’s an offer the whole family can enjoy!
• Vineyard Vines – Save 15% on all apparel with a verified medical ID.

Travel

• Budget – Available through the ID.me shop, Budget is offering a discount of up to 25% for nurses. Create an ID.me account or sign in to enjoy this offer.
• Enterprise Rent-a-Car – Similar to the Budget discount, nurses, military members, and teachers can take up to 25% off their rental car costs with Enterprise. An ID.me account is required to access this discount.
• National – Rounding out the trio of rental car companies’ offers for nurses through ID.me, National “lets you choose any car in the aisle and go” with up to 25% off.

In addition to this month’s discounts and freebies, Majestic Care is proud to partner with Panda Perks to give our Care Team members 24/7 access to discounts and perks on the brands you love! Give us a call to learn more.

South Shore Nursing and Rehabilitation is excited to recognize resident Darlene Meenach’s Success Story!

 Mrs. Meenach came to us in December 2021 after a few hospitalizations. She struggled with respiratory failure and just was not recovering. Even after admitting, she still struggled to get back to baseline for a month or longer. However, Mrs. Meenach soon got stronger and she became the funny, feisty lady that we all fell in love with! She made us laugh so much and we were sad, but happy when she decided it was time to go home. Mrs. Meenach is from here locally, and so many of the Care Team members knew her and her family. It was such a pleasure for us to have been able to care for Mrs. Meenach. We wish her well as she returns home. She did say she would be back to visit and we do hope she will soon! We hope she knows that she found a way to our hearts, and that she will be dearly loved for a long time. Good luck, Darlene!

Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions. Post-COVID conditions are a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems people can experience four or more weeks after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Even people who did not have COVID-19 symptoms in the days or weeks after they were infected can have post-COVID conditions. These conditions can present as different types and combinations of health problems for different lengths of time.

These post-COVID conditions may also be known as long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19, long-term effects of COVID, or chronic COVID. CDC and experts around the world are working to learn more about short- and long-term health effects associated with COVID-19, who gets them, and why.

Types of Post-COVID Conditions

New or Ongoing Symptoms

Some people experience a range of new or ongoing symptoms that can last weeks or months after first being infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. Unlike some of the other types of post-COVID conditions that tend only to occur in people who have had severe illness, these symptoms can happen to anyone who has had COVID-19, even if the illness was mild, or if they had no initial symptoms. People commonly report experiencing different combinations of the following symptoms:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Tiredness or fatigue
• Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental activities (also known as post-exertional malaise)
• Difficulty thinking or concentrating (sometimes referred to as “brain fog”
• Cough
• Chest or stomach pain
• Headache
• Fast-beating or pound heart (also known as heart palpitations)
• Joint or muscle pain
• Pins-and-needles feeling
• Diarrhea
• Sleep problems
• Fever
• Dizziness on standing (lightheadedness)
• Rash
• Mood changes
• Change in smell or taste
• Changes in menstrual period cycles

Multiorgan Effects of COVID-19

Some people who had severe illness with COVID-19 experience multiorgan effects or autoimmune conditions over a longer time with symptoms lasting weeks or months after COVID-19 illness. Multiorgan effects can affect many, if not all, body systems, including heart, lung, kidney, skin, and brain functions. Autoimmune conditions happen when you immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake, causing inflammation (swelling) or tissue damage in the affected parts of the body.

While it is very rare, some people, mostly children, experience multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) during or immediately after a COVID-19 infection. MIS is a condition where different body parts can become inflamed. MIS can lead to post-COVID conditions if a person continues to experience multiorgan effects or other symptoms.

Effects of COVID-19 Illness or Hospitalization

Hospitalizations and severe illness for lung-related diseases, including COVID-19, can cause health effects like severe weakness and exhaustion during the recovery period.

Effects of hospitalization can also include post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), which refers to health effects that begin when a person is in intensive care unit (ICU) and can remain after a person returns home. These effects can include severe weakness, problems with thinking and judgement, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD involves long-term reactions to a very stressful event.

Some symptoms that can occur after hospitalization are similar to some of the symptoms that people with initially mild or no symptoms may experience many weeks after COVID-19. It can be difficult to know whether they are caused by the effects of hospitalization, the long-term effects of the virus, or a combination of both. These conditions might also be complicated by other effects related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including mental health effects from isolation, negative economic situations, and lack of access to healthcare for managing underlying conditions. These factors have affected both people who have experienced COVID-19 and those who have not.

Prevention

The best way to prevent post-COVID conditions is to prevent COVID-19 illness. For people who are eligible, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as you can is the best way to prevent getting COVID-19 and can also help protect those around you.

Stopping a pandemic takes all the tools in our toolbox:

• Get vaccinated and stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines.
• Know when to wear a well-fitted mask to help protect yourself and others.
• Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces.
• Test to prevent spread to others.
• Stay 6 feet apart from others who don’t live with you.
• Wash you hands often with soap and water. Use hand sanitizer if soap and water aren’t available.

If you are NOT yet fully vaccinated, prevent long-term complications by protecting yourself and others from COVID-19.

Although media articles have reported that some people with post-COVID conditions say their symptoms improved after being vaccinated, studies are needed to determine the effects of vaccination on post-COVID symptoms.

What CDC is Doing

CDC continues to work to identify how common post-COVID conditions are, who is most likely to get them, and why some symptoms eventually improve for some people and may last longer for other people. Rapid and multi-year studies are underway to further investigate post-COVID conditions in more detail. These studies will help us better understand post-COVID conditions and how to treat patients with these longer-term effects.

For more information, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html.

South Shore Nursing and Rehabilitation is proud to recognize resident Dale Young’s Success Story!

Dale came to us in February after spending nearly 3 months in the hospital with sepsis and acute respiratory failure.  It was hard for Mr. Young at first.  He is from Augusta, KY, and he had no family close.  He didn’t let that stop him, though! He worked very hard with our therapy to get his strength back and was very determined to get back to his family. Mr. Young was very sweet and our Care Team loved having him here at the center. We want him to know how proud we are of him and his dedication.  If he ever gets back this way, we hope he stops in to see us again. Good Luck Mr. Young!

South Shore Nursing & Rehabilitation is proud to recognize Rhonda Dillow’s Success Story.

Rhonda came to South Shore Nursing & Rehab in May after a brief hospitalization. She had been struggling at home and was very weak. When she admitted, she was unable to walk and needed a lot of assistance. It took her a little while to adjust, but she showed more comfortability while working with our physical therapy team. She is now able to walk with assistance and is getting stronger every day! Rhonda is such a pleasure to be around. She is soft spoken and loves to attend activities. We hope she knows how proud we are of her and how thankful we are that she has allowed us to be part of her journey!

South Shore Nursing & Rehabilitation is proud to recognize Bonnie Ritchie’s Success Story.

Bonnie came to South Shore in late July after a hospital stay. The beginning process was difficult for Bonnie, but now she has fully recovered! Bonnie said her favorite thing about being here is talking to the other residents. She is so fun to talk to and she will make you laugh within minutes of the conversation. Bonnie will be returning home this week and we are sad to see her go, but we wish her the very best and hope she does great at home. Bonnie, we are going to miss you!

South Shore Nursing & Rehabilitation is proud to recognize Michelle William’s Success Story.

Michelle Williams has been a resident here at South Shore a few times now. This last time, she came to us for therapy after a repair to a tendon in her right leg. Michelle always works hard, and this time was no different. In just two short months, Michelle was moving around with ease, and walking up and down steps. She was ready to go home! Our great therapy team did an amazing job helping get Michelle back on her feet and doing the things she loves. Everyone here loves Michelle; she definitely has made some life-long friends here at the Shore.

Michelle, we are so proud of you and all your persistence. We wish you the best of luck!

Congratulations to Susie Brown and her dedicated Care Team Members!

Susie Brown came to South Shore Nursing and Rehabilitation in January 2021 from another skilled nursing facility. Ms. Brown had a fall that had resulted in head trauma and experiencing

altered mental status. She had been in and out of the hospital multiple times When she came to us she was bed bound and was also experiencing altered mental status. Our therapy team worked with her and today, Ms. Brown looks like a completely different person! She is out and about socializing now and she looks amazing. Ms. Brown has become part of our family and plans to stay here long term.

Thank you Ms. Brown for allowing South Shore Nursing and Rehabilitation for being part of your care. We are so proud of you and the recovery you have made!