Experience Dementia Live
This Wednesday, March 7th from 2-4 pm come to The Gardens of Cedar Rapids for this free learning event! Do you know or love someone who suffers from cognitive decline? Want to have a better understanding of what they are going through? Dementia Live is a dementia simulation that allows you to feel the sensory changes you experience with cognitive decline. Come join us! Call Andrea Weiss BS RN for any questions! (319)930-6666.
Women's History Month
Keep your eyes peeled during the month of March! One of the ways we are celebrating Women's History Month is by displaying the unique history of some of our women residents! You might see them displayed on their door or on a bulletin board. Feel free to look around, we are so proud of all of our women and what they've accomplished!
New Staff in the Building!
Meet Abby White! She is the newest addition to The Gardens of Cedar Rapids staff! Abby will be working as our Executive Assistant, serving and assisting residents and families with billing and insurance questions. You will usually find her sitting at our front desk or working back in her or Lisa's office. A few fun facts... Abby has her Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Liberty University. She was raised here in Cedar Rapids and loves to volunteer at Junior Achievement, educating teens in career development and money management. Abby also has a puppy named Zoey, loves crossfit, and is a national level olympic weight lifter! Give her a warm welcome when you see her!
Meet Mary McDaniel! Mary is the Director of Nursing in our Long Term Care Facility. She works with staff, medical professionals, families, and residents to ensure quality care is provided. Mary has been in geriatric healthcare for 14 years now. She started as a CNA and received her nursing license in 2009. She has spent most of her career in skilled and long term care but has also worked in both local hospitals on the respiratory floor and in the ER. She truly has a passion for nursing. Besides being a nurse Mary is married to her high school sweetheart and they have 5 beautiful kids together, 3 girls and 2 boys ages 6-15 years old. They also have a cat named Beauty. Fun facts... Mary loves roller coasters, photography, and kick boxing!
Meet Kristi Elwick! Many of you may already know Kristi, she has been with us since day one! She started as our Director of Nursing on our Long Term Care facility, but recently made the move down the hall and is now our Director of Nursing in our Assisted Living facility! Like Mary, Kristi works with staff, medical professionals, families, and residents to ensure quality care is provided. You may also see Kristi serving meals, cleaning, or doing anything else that needs to get done! Kristi has been a nurse for the last 20 years and was a CNA since age 14. She has worked at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids and at Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton. Kristi was born in North Dakota and moved around a lot as a child. She has been married for the last 19 years and has 3 kids ages 21, 16, and 12. Their family has 2 dogs. Kristi's grandmother was a nurse and that is her career's inspiration!
Regular Reminders
Laundry
Long Term Care residents need to have their clothes clearly marked with their name. This is just to ensure clothes always make it back to the right person. This is only for Long Term Care/Skilled Care residents. Assisted Living residents do no need to label clothes. If you have any questions, please see Brenda our Housekeeping Supervisor!
Meal R.S.V.P.'s
Visiting for a meal? Great! We will get your plate ready! Please let us know a minimum of 24 hours in advance so our amazing chef and cooking staff can prepare enough food!
Calendars
For more events and programs happening in our building this month, click on the link below and take a look at our calendars!
http://www.thegardenscr.com/activity-calendar/
Have a great month everyone!