News

Keys to Retaining Staff —Feeling Supported

On May 25, 2023 by LeadingAge

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This is the second in a series of articles from contributor Dr. Alyson VanAhn, Associated Clinic of Psychology, featuring tools to improve staff mental health.

In an overview article, I introduced three major factors that can improve staff retention when attended to deliberately by you and the leaders in your buildings—staff feeling valued, supported, and effective.  This article focuses on feeling supported.

Practice Your Self-Care by Not Chasing Happiness

On May 25, 2023 by Julie Apold

This last week of Mental Health Awareness Week revisit the Self-Care activities related to social connections and chasing happiness. Stop saying, “I will be happy when…” and start saying, “I am happy now because….”

For Mental Health Awareness Month, Practice Self-Care Through Gratitude

On May 18, 2023 by Julie Apold

Have you ever noticed how it warmed your heart when someone appreciates you?  Research shows that expressing gratitude to someone who has done something to enrich your life (no matter how big or small) significantly impacts both the giver and the receiver.

Keys to Retaining Staff: A Mental Health Perspective

On May 4, 2023 by LeadingAge

May is Mental Health Month. This is the first in a series of articles from contributor Dr. Alyson VanAhn, Associated Clinic of Psychology, featuring tools you and your organization can use to improve staff mental health.

Celebrate National Nurses Week and Month this May

On May 5, 2022 by Anna Mowry

Every year, the American Nurses Association (ANA) celebrates National Nurses Week, May 6-12, to promote, support, and honor the varying roles of nurses and the positive impacts they make in our communities every day. This year, ANA expanded National Nurses Week to National Nurses Month in May to show gratitude for the invaluable contributions of nurses all month long.

Resilience Tips: Being Confident Through Stress

On September 15, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Since the COVID era began, we've been witnessing and talking about the traumatic effects of the virus and how to cope as best we can. These things are real and can range from mental distress to physical exhaustion— and can include significant grief and worry.

Resilience Tips: From Full Mind to Mindful

On July 21, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

As a senior care employee at any level, we have busy lives and many pressures from different directions that we absorb every day. In leadership, there are pressures to complete your administrative tasks and also support your staff to be compassionate and productive. The number of things on your mind can seem to soar to new levels with each email or conversation.

Resilience Tips: Post-Traumatic Growth

On July 7, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Undoubtedly, everyone has been impacted by COVID-19. For those of us in senior care facilities, the likelihood that we've experienced trauma is high—the pandemic provided "collective" traumatic experiences.

Resilience Tips: Give to Get Resilience

On June 16, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Do you know some of the quickest ways to get resilience have to do with giving a tiny bit yourself? Research shows that gratitude and acts of kindness not only impact others positively, but they give you a boost of goodness, sometimes for months. Goodness here means energy, reduced stress, improved overall well-being, including physical and mental health!

Resilience Tip: Embracing Burnout and Bouncing Back

On June 2, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

We've talked about resilience as "bouncing back" from hardship for many months now. But what does it mean to try bouncing back when actual burnout has set in? How about keeping up with leadership and management roles when you feel less able to keep organized and optimistic as we try to move forward?

Resilience Tip: One Thing at a Time

On May 19, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

By now, you’ve probably been bombarded with one stress after another. And then you hear one way to handle it after another. Resilience isn’t about doing anything perfectly or all at once.

Resilience Tip: Bouncing Back to Purpose

On May 12, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

You've been trudging along throughout the pandemic. Months of serving others and trying to preserve yourself can leave you feeling little purpose outside of keeping on going. Even though we can generally find our professional and personal roles rewarding, at this time, we might question how helpful we are or how much we can enjoy from day to day. 

Resilience Tip: Loss, Revisited

On April 28, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Just when things are looking hopeful on the COVID front, we may find ourselves less than elated. We may have encouragement from lower COVID case counts, hospitalizations and death rates. This is progress. But, sometimes progress and hope improve our outlook and at the same time we are left perhaps more discouraged when losses continue or resurface.

Resilience Tip: Yourself as Medicine

On April 7, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

In senior care communities, there are a lot of medications passed in the hopes of improving or maintaining the health of residents. What’s often overlooked is all the care that you provide—for residents, colleagues and your own families—is essential medicine, too.

Resilience Tip:  Anniversaries and our Well Being

On March 17, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

This month marks the anniversary of when COVID arrived in Minnesota and began to ravage our facilities and dismantle our personal and professional lives.

The anniversary can leave us sad for what we have lost, angry that we are not over this yet and too exhausted from months of survival mode to feel good about our work. It can also cast doubt on whether the huge effort we have put into keeping things as good as possible even made a difference.

Resilience Tip: How Long Can We Be Resilient?

On March 10, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

You’re in good company if you’ve noticed some extra discouragement or frustration during a time when we have some glimmers of COVID-19 hope: vaccines have arrived and been delivered, and rates of death and hospitalization are down. So why do we feel so discouraged, tired or overwhelmed again?

Resilience Tip: Embracing “Good Enough”

On February 24, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Today we’re focused on the drive to be perfect (or darn close). It’s not inherently bad; in fact, it has propelled many of us to get to our current status in personal and professional arenas. It can, however, take its toll on our well-being to be in pursuit of perfection versus accepting of “good enough.”

Resilience Tip: Grief & Resilience

On February 17, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

Grief and resilience: you can have both!

You probably understood that going to work in a senior care facility meant you would experience death more often than people working in other environments. However, expecting this and going through it are quite different things – especially when death rates are (sometimes significantly) higher than usual as we’ve seen during the COVID pandemic.

Resilience Tip: Sleep & Resilience

On February 10, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

You are in good company if you have noticed changes in your sleeping patterns during COVID-19. Because of factors like extra screen time, change in routines and increase in stress, we are prone to poor sleep at this time. Sleep is important not only for our well-being and stability of mood, but it is also linked to immune system function.

Resilience Tip: Taking Back Control

On February 3, 2021 by LeadingAge

Featuring Dr. Alyson VanAhn from Associated Clinic of Psychology

As helpers, we pride ourselves on assisting those who have lost control of their lives in some manner. Residents may have memory loss, an injury, a loss of independence or feeling they’ve lost control of decisions made about their lives. For leaders, it’s important to guide staff with a sense of control that’s flexible and also conveys confidence and security.