Karen

Sandy I always begin by re-explaining the purpose of the meeting-to provide a venue for residents to voice concerns, ask questions, problem solve, etc. It is always attended by as many management as possible. We read the minutes of the last meeting and then go department by department and ask how they feel things are going. Each supervisor may then address any issues in their department. This usually opens a discussion pertaining to each department. If I have 50 residents and one says the bacon is too crisp I will then ask for a show of hands and take it from there. Often it is one person who has a different view of things, and it is helpful to remind them that this is a democracy. Once we have gone through all of the departments we generally ask for any other suggestions. The conversation usually migrates back to the food! I remind them that at any time, interested residents may run the meetings, but have had no takers yet-they say they like the way I do it...sometimes it sort of becomes a social chit chat and at that point we wind down. Usually it lasts for an hour. I type the minutes and post in a common area including our action plan-(how things will be resolved). Our meetings are very well attended and the residents are vocal about what they would like to see. Hope this helps!!

So we have 3 budgies, 1 finch, and 1 cockatiel. I have assigned the "critter chores" to one specific shift. Every day they give fresh water and food, change the bottom of the cage-(lined with newspaper), and give them a spray bath. I guess it depends on the type of bird, but we clean the cages everyday as they tend to throw their food around, and they lose their little fluffy feathers a bit, and of course they poop alot. They will also need to have their claws trimmed from time to time, and we keep their flight feathers trimmed in case they escape-which they have done numerous times...Hope this helps!!

We run a weekly tuck shop and for their birthdays we give out $5 vouchers they can redeem for cookies, candy, etc. I also pay out up to $1 for bingo winners. In our dementia units we give out small bags of chips or chocolate bars as they don't usually have money. Good luck!!