Celebrating Nurses at The Arc of Monroe

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives

The observance of Nurses Week begins each year on May 6 and ends on May 12, the birthday of the founder of modern nursing – Florence Nightingale. I am a bit partial, but just one week doesn’t seem like nearly enough time to express our gratitude for the selfless nurses in our lives and let them know just how much we appreciate their caring and gentle nature. But hey, it’s a start! Below are only a few of examples of what our nurses do out in the field every day: Advocate with health care providers and others involved in an …

Arc of Monroe End of Life Committee Offers Support for Caregivers

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives

Written by Sue Sproule, Director of Nursing at The Arc of Monroe End of Life – What does it mean to the caregiver? Even when you know the end of life is approaching for someone you support, you might not feel prepared. Looking after a person who is dying can be very stressful. It’s common to feel like you don’t know what to do, what to say or how to cope. You might feel angry, sad or totally unprepared. You could also feel frightened about how it will happen and if you will be able to cope. However, once you …

The Arc of Monroe Forms New End of Life Committee

Health and Wellness, Programs and Services, Staff Perspectives

Written by Sue Sproule, Director of Nursing The Arc of Monroe nursing team works hard to best serve our staff and the people we support. In the first quarter of 2022 alone, the team ran 990 medical appointments for the people we support. Our latest endeavor is to develop an “End of Life” committee. What does end of life mean? I asked a few people who are on the committee, and this is what they shared: “Doing it my way. Living every day, including the last days of my life in comfort, support, and dignity where I want and with …

What is the Difference between a Pandemic and an Endemic?

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives

Written by Sue Sproule, MPA, RN, Director of Nursing at The Arc of Monroe What is the Difference between a Pandemic and an Endemic? During the past two years of living through this pandemic, we have had to learn so many new terms. Words like “novel,” “close contact,” “N-95,” “quarantine vs. isolation,” and others. The list goes on and on. The latest word to emerge is “Endemic.” I thought it might be good to explain the difference between a “Pandemic” and an “Endemic.” The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic in March of 2020 due to the rapid …

Nursing in the IDD Field

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives

Written by Sue Sproule, MPA, RN, Director of Nursing at The Arc of Monroe March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to share about how special it is to work as a nurse supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Rewarding Career One of the most rewarding aspects of being a nurse and caring for people with IDD is that we can build meaningful connections with the people we support. It’s unlike a hospital or family medicine environment where patients are constantly in and out, never staying (hopefully) for extended …

Celebrate a World of Flavors for National Nutrition Month

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives, Uncategorized

Written by Antonietta Alfano, Diet Technician at The Arc of Monroe March is National Nutrition Month! This month was created by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to help increase awareness of the importance of nutrition and knowing where you can find nutrition experts to help you achieve your goals. This is also a great time to help motivate yourself to make healthy changes and do personal research on what works for you, your body and your lifestyle. Your very own Diet Technician is here to share all of the cool elements of nutrition! Did you also know that I …

Identifying Aspiration Pneumonia

Health and Wellness

Have you ever experienced a meal where something “went down the wrong pipe”? If so, you’ve experienced what’s known as aspiration. This is a fairly common occurrence that can occasionally lead to aspiration pneumonia when someone can’t cough up whatever has entered his or her airways. Pneumonia is a breathing condition in which there is inflammation (swelling) or an infection of the lungs or large airways. Aspiration pneumonia occurs when food, saliva, liquids, or vomit is breathed into the lungs or airways leading to the lungs, instead of being swallowed into the esophagus and stomach. As you can imagine, aspirating …

September is Deaf Awareness Month & International Week of the Deaf Begins September 20

Advocacy, Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives

September is Deaf Awareness Month and International Week of the Deaf begins September 20! The first International Day of the Deaf was first celebrated by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) in 1958. The day of awareness was later extended to a full week, becoming the International Week of the Deaf (IWD). Deaf Awareness Week (IWD) is a national week of celebrating deafness. It is observed annually throughout the last full week of September (to commemorate the first World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf, which took place in September 1951). The week focuses on promoting the positive aspects of deafness, encouraging …

Recognizing and Responding to Trauma

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives, Uncategorized

When you think about the signs of trauma, what do you imagine? Most people will think of someone curled up in a ball, alone, in a dark room, but that is more of a stereotype than reality. There are many signs and symptoms of trauma that are more subtle and you can be struggling with the effects of trauma without even realizing they are occurring. Because trauma can occur anytime our experience overwhelms our ability to cope you may even notice something is off but associate a trauma symptom with some other problem. Some outwardly obvious signs of trauma can …

Daniele Migliore

Trauma Touches Everyone

Health and Wellness, Staff Perspectives

When we think of trauma, we think of the death of a loved one, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, neglect, war-related trauma or life altering illness/accidents. Trauma can also be triggered by those events that may not be typically seen as “traumatic” such as job loss, loss of friendship/relationship, financial struggles, death of a pet, bullying/harassment, natural disasters and as we have recently experienced, a pandemic such as COVID-19. Trauma can be caused by a single event or series of events, set of circumstances or chronic condition that a person experiences that is physically or emotionally harmful and may have …