Nazareth Home elders and family members report happiness with their care, exceeding the national average, according to the 2020 customer satisfaction report by Pinnacle Quality Insight. 

The survey is designed to measure residents’ satisfaction with regard to their quality of care and quality of life. Nazareth Home is making its mark on the national scale by providing exceptional long-term care to elders.

“Our number one priority is keeping elders healthy, engaged, and safe,” Nazareth Home President and CEO Mary Haynes said. “We are thankful this data supports the fact that we are providing an environment that engages employees to provide high-quality care where elders can thrive and that families can feel good about.”

With the scale being 1 to 5 and 5 being the highest, Nazareth Home Highlands ranked over 4 in every category. Here are a few highlights from the results:

• • • Nazareth Home’s response to problems received 5 out of 5. 
    • The cleanliness of the campus is ranked at 4.94.
    • Willingness to recommend Nazareth Home to others, personal care and overall resident satisfaction earned a score of 4.88.

Nazareth Home Clifton received superb results as well.

• • • Communication to elders and family members, safety and security and willingness to recommend to others, received the highest score of 5.
    • Cleanliness of the campus ranked at 4.80
    • Personal care earned a score of 4.75

“While we are always looking to improve our services to exceed customer expectations, the consistent above-average scores represent our dedication to compassionate person-centered care,” said Haynes. “I am pleased that our hard work is appreciated by the elders and their loved ones.”

Kahlil Gibran once said, “For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.” Angelo Volandes, a physician, writer and patients’ rights advocate, has a lot in common with Gibran’s thought on life and death being one. In his book, The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care, Dr. Volandes speaks to the importance of improving not how we die, but more importantly, how we live through the end of our life.

His book shares how people can empower themselves to get the right medical care on their terms at the end of life. Good quality care requires that treatments are consistent with the patients’ values, preferences and priorities, and communication is vital in knowing those. Caregivers and doctors can make a world of difference in hard situations by having these conversations.

In The Conversation, Dr. Volandes offers a “how-to” guide for having tough discussions when facing serious illness. He recommends talking about these four questions.

1. 1. What is important to you, and what makes you happy?
   2. What fears do you have about sickness and medical care?
   3. Are there any treatments that you believe would be too much for you?
   4. Do you have any beliefs that guide your ideas about medical care?

According to Dr. Volandes, these are just the start of what should be an ongoing conversation with doctors and loved ones about your wishes. He also suggests discussing:

• • Would you rather live longer no matter what, or is quality of life more important to you?
  • Are there any significant events you have to see before you die (e.g., graduations, weddings or birthdays)?
  • How much pain you are willing to go through, and are you willing to tolerate some pain if it means you can still interact with other people?
  • Do you want to be at home or in a hospital when you die?

Rather than waiting for these conversations to come up organically, Dr. Volandes suggests his readers initiate them. His goal is to build strong patient/clinician relationships based on shared knowledge and open communication, creating high-quality medical care that is person-centered, respecting patients’ preferences.

“When patients have honest exchanges and have the tools necessary to understand their choices at the end of life, then they—not the health care system—remain in charge of decisions about how they want to live.” – Dr. Volandes, The Conversation

How a person wants to live is just as important as how a person wants to die. Providing people with compassionate and person-centered care in life and death is care everyone should receive. Begin “the conversation” today to ensure respect and choice.

For additional information on how to live well through the end of your life, check out The Gift of Five Wishes.

Hi, my name is MaryJo Green, and I am the nurse manager for Charity Court, our memory care unit at Nazareth Home Highlands. I have worked here for a little over 13 years in several different roles. I began my career here as the Monday through Friday day shift charge nurse in long-term care, then moved to the weekend house supervisor. Prior to my position now, I was the assistant manager on our rehab unit, Rehabilitation to Home. 

I love my career at Nazareth Home because it is centered around a love for others. I am surrounded by staff who are passionate about making it the best place for our elders to live. Every day I see team members from each department forging deep and authentic relationships not only with one another but with the elders. The relationships we build and our love for our work allows us to create a safe and supportive community that benefits the staff and the elders. 

Working at Nazareth Home allows me to continue to enrich my life through caring and providing compassion to others. In long-term care, you may be the reason the elder smiles or the highlight of their day. And it’s not a one-way street. I have found that working in this setting has enriched my life, as well. By learning the elders’ life stories, I get to hear firsthand knowledge of history, the experiences of living through the great depression, war, technology advancements, and many others. You can read about these subjects, but you don’t feel the emotion unless you listen to someone who was there.

Working at Nazareth Home is a blessing. If you are interested in beginning your career at Nazareth Home, come by our Outdoor Hiring Event at our Highlands campus on July 22 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/events/294553595285594/.