Happy Holidays!

Today is my second last day in my LTC rotation and to say I have enjoyed myself would be an understatement. I met some really interesting and intelligent people (staff, Residents, health care providers, Resident's friends and family, etc.) during my time at the Villa and I feel that my experiences in this internship rotation were enhanced by these interactions and they allowed me to grow in knowledge, experience, skill, and emotionally. Being a LTC Dietitian allows for so much more than providing nutrition and administrative assistance and leadership - it comes with an opportunity to bring joy, comfort, compassion, and a supportive ear or shoulder to the Residents. I would welcome the chance to have a career in LTC.

With the end of my rotation in LTC, comes some much needed time away with my fiance, Kev! I am so very very excited to fly out in the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning to join him for the holidays.

My next rotation, starting January 3rd, 2012 will be in Clinical with a Renal/Stroke Dietitian.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Rotation #2: Long Term Care

Villa Saint Joseph-Du-Lac

I have now finished my first 2 of 4 weeks in my LTC rotation and I can honestly say, that I am loving it! Prior to this rotation I did have experience working in LTC facilities (in Lunenburg, NS; and Calgary, AB) so I knew that being in this setting was something that I enjoyed and thrived in - and this continues to be true.

The tasks and assignments that I have been working on include:

• Admission assessments;
• Dysphagia assessements;
• Menu analysis for number of servings daily available to Residents from Canada's Food Guide;
• Implementation of a new food to the menu;
• Staff in-service education sessions on "Celiac Disease and the Gluten-Free Diet"
• Attend multidisciplinary focus meetings
• Prepare for and present at Resident Care Plan meetings
• Assist with food-related events, such as a birthday party and Christmas tea;
• Charting;
• Prepare and present a detailed case study of a Resident;
• Assess Residents on nutritional supplements (Ensure, Boost) for means of continuation or cessation;
• Cost analysis of the nutritional supplements to determine daily, weekly, and yearly cost;
• Assist Residents with meals ("feeding" - but I hate to use that term so I shall refer to it as "assisting with meals" instead);
• Resident and staff interviews;
• SO much more!

I really am enjoying my LTC rotation!

A more descriptive entry complete with my reflections on my experiences in LTC will be completed when I'm at the airport waiting to board - only 10 days remain!

Lobster!

Dumping Day: November 29, 2011

Since I am doing my internship in a location where the main industry is fishing and lobstering, the other interns and I have been taking advantage of this and participating in as much as we can! 

Lobstering boats ready to depart

Our first lobstering event was Dumping Day. What is Dumping Day, you ask? It is the first day of lobster season when all the lobster fishermen head out on their boats at 6:00am and dump their lobster pots for the first time that season. On November 29th, we three got up crazy early for a Tuesday and were at the Cape Forchu lighthouse for 5:00am. There was a breakfast of bread pudding (incredible), muffins, coffee, and hot chocolate available for donation inside the lighthouse. There were gobs of people waiting outside to see the lobster boats approach the lighthouse. Then, at 6:00am, the horn blew and all the boats increased speed and headed out to sea to applause, cheers, and a message illuminating the rocks on the shore: "Have a safe and prosperous season". It was really great to experience such community spirit and camaraderie! Definitely worth getting up so early - and we were back to the residence in enough time to allow an hours nap before heading to work.

Eating lobster that was caught earlier that day

The next lobster inspired event happened just last night. Tina and I were invited over to our friend's parents home (who live in Pubnico, NS - about a 35 minute drive from Yarmouth) for a fresh lobster feast! Our friend's dad is a lobster fisherman and brought in the lobster from sea just hours before! It was by far the freshest and most tasty lobster I have ever tasted! I was even given a lesson on how to shell the lobster like a pro! 

It was an amazing evening filled with good food and great company! It also put me into the Christmas spirit so I am even more excited to fly home to Calgary for Christmas!

Oh Public Health, What Great Things I Learned During My Time in Thee

So this post is a little delayed due to mass amounts of internship-related work, but here is my final reflection of my public health rotation.

My Office in Public Health

 My rotation in Public Health: 

• Forced me to expand and alter the way I think – think about the bigger picture.  
• Increased my familiarity, comfort, and knowledge in Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Publisher.
• Allowed me to participate in activities outside of meetings and committees and resource building that Public Health Nutritionists are involved with.
• Meet new people and see parts of Nova Scotia I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to see. 

Food Service Assessment Project

• Increased my knowledge and experience on how to quickly build rapport (and the importance of doing so) in getting genuine responses.
• It helped me to become familiar with the Food and Nutrition policy so I could better recommend required supports for schools to help them with their efforts to follow the FNP.
• Helped to increase my confidence level in myself and in my background in food service. It felt good to have my preceptors ask me questions to clarify food service-related questions they had. 
• This rotation exposed me to presenting on behalf of a department such as Public Health. It is much more different that a University setting – a necessary and interesting learning experience. 
• I learned so much about prenatal and breastfeeding (nutrition and otherwise). This is an area where I had had no exposure outside the classroom and the prenatal nurse was incredible as a teacher. I was able to create documents, do presentations, help out with prenatal classes and Friendly Feeding Line meetings. I enjoyed having an active role in my education.
• I really enjoyed going on a home visit with a Home Visitor. I hadn’t known that this program existed prior to this rotation, so it was a huge learning experience for me.
• Getting to know the staff of Public Health and meeting with most individually to hear about their roles in the department. 
• Learn about and create documents for the Child Care Regulations – worked with PH Nutritionists province wide for edits. These documents are now being circulated throughout the province. 

Everything hinges on education. Without it, you can't advocate for proper health care, for housing, for a civil rights bill that ensures your rights.

~Susan L Taylor