Fulton Community Matters June 2020

Fulton Presbyterian Manor

JUNE 2020

I remember when….

Each of us passes through historic moments throughout our lives. While shared nationally or globally, we often remember these times through the filter of our personal experience. From a global pandemic or the assassination of a president to the biggest snowstorm in memory — these experiences are both widely shared and uniquely ours.

A few residents shared their own “I remember where I was when.…” stories.

Jimmie Houf Significant Event: New Year’s Eve blizzard in New York.

Jimmie was a truck driver running a route in New York state when a blizzard struck on New Year’s Eve. The snowstorm left him locked in his truck as unusual amounts of snow fell.

Name: Opal Forman Significant Event: Golden wedding anniversary Opal’s family helped celebrate her 50th wedding anniversary at the First Baptist Church in Mexico, Mo. “The house was full,” she recalled, and included her four sons who used to sing together in a quartet. All of her favorite people were there, including students she had taught throughout the years, extended relatives, and her friends. The event was held on August 25, 1996.

COVID-19 updates continue As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, you can count on regular communication from your PMMA community and PMMA leadership. PMMA’s President and CEO Bruce Shogren’s latest letter to residents and families are posted to your community website, FultonPresbyterianManor.org/ covid-19. Get the latest information about visitation and restrictions on deliveries and learn more about PMMA’s infection control efforts to contain COVID-19 across the PMMA system. u

Rita Elliott Significant Event: President John F. Kennedy’s assassination Rita was in third grade at the time of the assassination.

She remembers the principal announced that the president had been shot over the public address system, and said everyone should pray for him, which

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I remember – continued from page 1 they did as a class. Not long after, the principal visited each classroom, talked to the teachers in the hallway, then came in to break the news that John F. Kennedy had died. The school cancelled classes so they could watch the president’s funeral.

Mildred Greenburg Significant Event: President John F. Kennedy’s assassination Mildred was up on scaffolding, installing wallpaper on the ceiling with her husband. The television was on, and she remembers seeing the events unfold.

Significant Event: World War II Mildred remembers that her family had to have ration stamps to get items from the grocery store.

Without a ration stamp, the store couldn’t sell the items, even if they were in stock. Later, when she was in junior high school, she heard the announcement that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had died.

Millie Dowling Significant Event: Terror attacks of 9/11 The Twin Towers fell during the terrible attack on Sept. 11, 2001. Millie was enjoying a vacation with her husband Kerry. They had travelled out west and toured Mesa Verde National Park on Sept. 10.

Before heading home, they spent the night in Durango, Colorado.

They turned on the television in their hotel room in time to see the first tower fall.

“I remember saying to Kerry, ‘how could that pilot be so stupid?’” Of course, all of the ensuing events proved the horror of the actual terror attack.

Dorothy Hackman Significant Event: President Harry S. Truman visits college The largest class in Westminster College history held its commencement celebration on June 8, 1964, and the speaker that

year was none other than U.S. President Harry S. Truman.

Dorothy’s son Bruce was 7 or 8 at the time, and he managed to get the president’s signature that day.

Significant Event: Polio outbreak of 1953 It was summertime, and polio was afflicting people all over the country. Dorothy remembers that everyone was instructed to not get together with others for fear of further spreading the disease.

Ruth Young Significant Event: President John F. Kennedy’s assassination Ruth remembers she was rocking her baby when her husband’s grandmother came over to deliver the news of the assassination. They turned on the television and watched the news together. “We were numb. We didn’t talk,” she said. “I remember Jackie leaning over him.” u

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FULTON Presbyterian Manor

573-642-6646 u Fax: 573-642-2202 811 Center St. Fulton, MO 65251-1922 FultonPresbyterianManor.org

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | June 2020

Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Fulton Presbyterian Manor

by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

To submit or suggest articles: dsmith2@pmma.org Dawn Smith, executive director

OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

For Kaitlyn Potts, nursing begins with building relationships Registered nurse Kaitlyn Potts finds the most rewarding part of her work in the relationships that she’s been able to build. In her role as a Medicare A aide nurse, she enjoys a good deal of interaction with residents. She appreciates the chance to get to know them on a personal level.

“I really like the relationships,” she said. “It’s such a safe setting. I worked at Fulton State Hospital for seven years, and I would never bring my kids to work before. Here they can just run by and say hi, and they like saying hi to the residents (prior to COVID-19, when there weren’t restrictions on outside visitors). It’s a happy environment.”

Through her work, she’s developed an understanding of residents’ likes and dislikes, and how they prefer to spend their time. That’s become more important recently, as staff work to fill the role of family now that social distancing and stay-athome orders are in place.

“I like to curl their hair and paint their nails,” Kaitlyn said. “That’s what I do when I have spare time — especially now with COVID, because no one can come in. I try to spend time with them one-on-one.

One of our residents is nonverbal, so I try to sit with her for a while and curl her hair. She makes eye contact with me and feels safe with me. I feel in nursing, I try to treat the residents like family, and in some respects, we are their family. We try to find out what’s best for them.”

This deeper understanding of residents allows the nursing staff to

better notice changes in behavior that might indicate a bigger medical or emotional concern — and gives them the information they need to serve as effective advocates for residents’ needs.

“Here I feel like it’s more a familytype setting,” Kaitlyn said. “We advocate as if it’s a family member.

When they need things done, we communicate that with the doctors, just like it’s one of our family members. You’re able to notice a difference in their status because you see them every day. You know their norms, celebrate birthdays with them. It’s a lot more personal. I love our residents and the chance to build relationships with them and know them.”

As residents face additional stressors and challenges during the worries of COVID-19, Kaitlyn has been able to utilize her education and experience as a “psych” nurse to help meet the social and emotional needs of residents.

“We are social creatures, we need to see our families and friends and get out and be around people,” Kaitlyn said. “Now that we’re not letting people in, we’ve done a lot of Facebook and FaceTime calls. That’s all we have, and it’s hard. We’ve been super vigilant, and we’re proud of the fact that we’ve been able to keep everyone safe. It’s been painful, but it’s working. Everyone is healthy.”

Kaitlyn said it’s nice to recognize nursing staff during the celebration of the Year of the Nurse, as well as the contributions Florence Nightingale made to the

advancement of medicine.

“It’s important, because there’s so much burnout in nursing,” Kaitlyn said. “You work a lot of hours, long hours. It’s nice to be appreciated, and to remember why you do what you do and to see that you’re making a difference.”

Kaitlyn, who has been a nurse since 2010, said nursing feels a lot like being a mother to her. And the family setting of Fulton Presbyterian Manor fills her with a feeling of reward every day. In fact, she said she initially started working part-time at Presbyterian Manor, but enjoyed it so much, she’s made the switch to working here exclusively.

When she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her two sons: Beau, 6, and Cyrus, 2.

“My life basically revolves around them,” she laughed.

The family also has a pet chameleon named Branch and a leopard gecko named Spike.

“The kids think they’re super cool,” she said. u

Fulton Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY

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FULTON Presbyterian Manor 811 Center St. Fulton, MO 65251-1922 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided

by Christian values.

Like us on Facebook to stay updated on news and events.

Fulton Presbyterian Manor residents rate their home As part of Fulton Presbyterian Manor’s ongoing customer service initiative, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. Here’s just a sampling of what some shared: “They take real good care of [my loved one] and [they] seem to like it. Most important is that [my loved one is safe] and well taken care of.”

The graphic to the right highlights some of the survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between March 2019 and February 2020, Fulton

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | June 2020

Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores in showing residents dignity and respect, dining services, ease of admissions process and cleanliness.

We greatly value the opinions of

our residents and their representatives about the care and services we provide, and we encourage them to participate honestly when contacted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. All state and federal confidentiality laws are met in Pinnacle’s service. u

Source: Pinnacle Quality Insight (12 month ave. Mar. 2019 - Feb. 2020)

5 4

4.56

5.00

4.75

4.75

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Dining Services

Dignity & Respect

Admission Process

Professional Therapy

ASSISTED LIVING

INDEPENDENT LIVING

PATH

HEALTH CARE