William E. Christoffersen Salt Lake Veterans Nursing Home

Good Afternoon!
This is your friendly reminder to track your May hours! Track any hours that you have volunteered for in May. Make sure you are tracking your hours even if you do not need them, I still do!!!!

Also, we have been having some issues with volunteers on their phones during volunteer hours. Remember, you are here for the residents and not to play on your phones. If you are with a resident and showing them videos or looking something up for them on your phone, you can have it out. Otherwise, please keep it put away. If you are caught with your phone you will be reminded to not have it out by a staff member. If you are caught more than once, you will be dismissed as a volunteer. Thank you for understanding.

Finally, we have had some issues with some volunteers just sitting around and not doing anything with the residents while they are here. Keep in mind that watching TV is not an acceptable activity to be doing with a resident. Sometimes you will need to get creative to find something to do with them. Early afternoon can be a difficult time because many of the residents take a nap after lunch. This is when you will need to be most creative. If an activity is not going on, then you NEED to be interacting with a resident in a meaningful way. You can go for a walk, do a word search, hunt down the animals around the building, do a puzzle, have a sing a long, show them AFHV or other funny videos you have seen, pick veggies out of the garden, play a game, grab some coffee and chat, do their nails, make something, read them a book, play an instrument with them or for them, write down their story, do some beading, tell them jokes, do some scrapbooking, look through a picture book, etc. There are so many things that you can be doing with the residents. With the residents who are not as responsive, give them some sensory items; grab some lotion in the rec dep. and give them a hand massage. We have gooey stuff you can grab for them to play with, come get the Ipad and play them some music, grab some different scents and have them smell them and talk about what they remember from those smells.

Moral of the story is you should never just be sitting off on your own, sitting and playing on your phone, or sitting and watching TV. If there is not an activity to help out with, go find a lonely resident. They are everywhere! There will always be someone who would love to have you come and visit with them and keep them company. You are here to volunteer and enhance the lives of the residents here. Please make sure you are doing so.

If you are in an activity, please be engaged. For example, if you are in a musical activity, get up and dance with some of the residents. You can grab their hands while they are sitting down and move them from side to side. The residents LOVE this. Or sit next to a resident who is not as cognitive and tap the beat out gently on their leg or arm. If you know the words to a song being played, sit next to a resident and sing to them .
On scenic outings, pull up some trivia questions on your phone and try to stump them or look up historical facts about the places you are headed to to share with them.
In trivia or jeopardy, sit next to a resident and encourage them to answer the questions or maybe whisper the answer in their ear to say out loud if you know it. Help them be as active as they can be.

Please "sign up" for this so that I know that you have read this training and understand. If you decide to not read this, you will be dismissed as a volunteer.

Thank you all for all that you do! Our residents and staff love you.
- Cassandra