What a week, friend! Are you doing anything for St. Patrick’s Day this weekend? I have the tiniest bit of Irish in me, so I’m planning to wear a green shirt at work today, but that’s the extent of my celebration.
Daylight Savings time didn’t hit me too hard this year. Honestly, I’m usually totally dead by this point and I’ve actually felt fairly energized throughout the week (just a little slump on Monday afternoon).
We endured the biggest snow storm of the season on Tuesday. It snowed continuous, wet, heavy snow from 5am Tuesday morning to early early Wednesday morning. The newscasters warned us for days ahead of the storm that heavy power outages were possible due to the combination of heavy snow and strong wind. I shared on Stories this week that the wind covered my car with so much snow that I had to physically shovel my way into the car – I couldn’t open the driver-side door without first digging a space.
I work for some of the best rehab directors, and Sunday night one of them told me I didn’t have to come to work the day of the storm, which was wonderful! My husband unfortunately did have to head into work (he also works in a healthcare setting), but they closed around 10am, so we spent the afternoon together snuggled up sipping hot coffee.
I made the best buffalo chicken dip for dinner on Wednesday night. It’s one of the easiest things to put together and so incredibly delicious – the trick is to mix cheddar cheese into the dip and sprinkle it on top before baking. Since it felt like such a simple meal to assemble, I filmed the whole process and will be sharing it tonight on Instagram. This is definitely a Resident-friendly recipe to make, and can be modified for folks who don’t like spice. Stay tuned for that!
We’ve got some friends visiting this weekend which we’re very excited about. They live about an hour and a half away from us, so we try to get together about once a month. We typically eat great food and play various board games while we’re together, so I anticipate Saturday will be a lovely day!
Other than that, it looks like a straight-forward week ahead.
If you missed out on anything from this week, I’ve got it all compiled here.
This Week’s Recap
Instagram Reels:
My Top Tip for Improved Rapport with Long-Term Residents
Ways to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on The Memory Unit (aka if you need some last minute ideas!)
Dementia-Friendly Language to Use during Self Care Routines
Why We Should Cognitively Test our Residents
Some Great Therapy Products (links non-affiliate):
Plaid Smocks – It’s really important that we maximize Resident dignity as much as possible. These smocks don and doff easily, are made of waterproof material, and come in plaid patterns of various colors to look more like a shirt. Under $20!
Grandpa’s Magical Mind – Brianna with Bambu Care wrote and released a children’s book designed to teach children about the magic of dementia. It’s told from a child’s perspective and looks absolutely adorable (and it’s also under $20)!
Someone to Follow if You Don’t Already:
@jayzee.ot – a fellow OT who works primarily in home health, she got tons of funny and relatable content
Phil @functionalrehabtherapy – another fellow OT working in the inpatient neuro rehab setting, he makes his patients work and he’s seeing great outcomes
Have you seen the Petition?
Michelle and Luke, as well as many other OT content creators, have been sharing a petition to change the Academic and Clinical Standards for occupational therapists.
And if you’ve already signed the petition, take the next step by filling out this survey that breaks down how much each of the points within the petition resonates with you: find it here.
The Memory Unit OT 
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