Outstanding Nursing Home Administrator

Last Friday, I attended a ProAging luncheon at The Fairfax Lifecare Retirement Community in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The keynote speaker was Ben Cornthwaite, a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator at Greenspring. Cornthwaite (known as Happy Sunshine) spent one week as a resident of the nursing and rehabilitation center he manages. He entered the facility in a wheelchair with only the admissions person and his wife knowing about it.

He did not feel that issues he faced were typical of only Renaissance Gardens at Greenspring, but impacts any nursing home. The moment he entered in a wheelchair, he said the place looked totally different.

He simulated the following challenges:

• Wheelchair bound needing total assistance
• Incontinent
• On 10 medications (M&Ms were used in place of medication)

Some of the things he learned seems obvious, but he had no idea about the problems because no one talked about them. In some cases, design creates dependence instead of independence. For example, the closet rods were too high and therefore, he had to call for assistance, instead of being able to reach for his clothes by himself.

For anyone who has sat in a wheelchair for any length of time, it is not a comfortable chair. Hence, they purchased high quality gel cushions for the wheelchairs and for residents that wanted them. Additionally, door hinges were changed so that doors to bathrooms swung outwards. Otherwise, the residents could never have any privacy because they could not close the doors with the wheelchair in the bathroom.

Another problem with nursing homes, like hospitals, is that you cannot sleep through the night because you are awakened for medication. Can you imagine not being able to sleep through the night because of external influences? So it caused them to take a hard look at scheduling. Cornthwaite said it’s all about changing a mindset.

Most of us have no desire to enter a nursing home. I remember the day I had to put my dad in one. I took him for a hair cut, had lunch, and all the while with butterflies in my stomach. When we arrived at the nursing home, his face read fear. He knew where we were and he had no desire to go in. He lasted only three weeks.

I am grateful for creative thinkers like Ben Cornthwaite who now has a much deeper and compassionate understanding of the handicapped senior population in a nursing home. We need more people like him as well as Steve Gurney, seen in the first picture above, who works tirelessly for the senior community. You can read his Everyone is Aging blog here.

For further information see Happy Sunshine Visits Renaissance Gardens.

Tagged with: Array • Ben Cornthwaite • Closet Rods • Dependence • Door Hinges • Draisin Bike • Everyone Is Aging Blog • Fort Belvoir Virginia • Gel Cushions • Green Spring • Greenspring • Happy Sunshine • Incontinent • Keynote Speaker • Last Friday • Length Of Time • Lifecare Retirement Community • Luncheon • Nora • Nursing Home Administrator • Nursing Homes • ProAging • Rehabilitation Center • Renaissance Gardens • Retirement Living • SourceBook Guide To Retirement Living • Steve Gurney • The Fairfax Lifecare Retirement Community • Wheelchair • Wheelchairs

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