7 / 8
Our super nurses
Twice a year, Samaritan holds skill fairs for all nurs-
ing staff. This full day of up-to-date information and
expanded training offers our nurses and nursing staff
an opportunity to make sure they are current and ac-
curate in their skills. Every member of the nursing
staff is required to participate at one of the two dates
offered annually.
Making use of Samaritan’s fourth-floor education and
conference rooms, stations representing different skills
are scheduled throughout the day. One room is set up in
stations where training staff offer current information
and the nursing staff work on skills such as chest tubes,
code blue documentation, and restraint application and
documentation. Updates on Samaritan’s Care Partner
program, blood transfusions and organ donation are also
an important part of this program.
Other rooms are set up so nursing staff work together
to practice safe patient handling. Nurses, nursing assis-
tants and technologists work on bed-to-bed transfers and
transfers using slings and lifts in a variety of situations.
Role-playing as patients gives each staff member a chance
to experience care from a patient’s perspective.
As staff members complete their rotations through
each training station, there is no shortage of questions,
answers and ideas. Many take the opportunity to share
impressions of how to integrate what they’ve learned into
their day-to-day patient care.
Our nursing staff members take pride in the com-
passionate care they give every patient at every visit.
The dedication they show by attending skill fairs is
just another reason Samaritan’s nursing staff is one
of the best.
Thank you, Tom!
Tom Legel, chief financial
officer at Samaritan, has ac-
cepted a new role as director
of regional finance for Benefis
Health System in Great Falls,
Montana. Benefis is a regional
health system that serves a
15-county region with a broad
scope of clinical, acute and
long-term care services. Le-
gel’s role will be to support
financial strategy and opera-
tions for Benefis’ regional hospital network. The Benefis
role is a great fit for Legel’s professional and personal
interests. Legel and his wife will have the opportunity to
support their daughter in her senior basketball season at
the University of Great Falls.
Legel has been an outstanding contributor to Samaritan’s
success on many levels. He began work with Samaritan
at a time when the organization was invested in much
operational improvement work with Huron Consulting.
Legel and his staff carried that work forward to hardwire
many of the disciplines that have helped Samaritan remain
stable, both financially and operationally.
Our organization has also achieved numerous rec-
ognitions for its business office function, electronic
medical record adoption, and audit performance
through Legel’s leadership. Legel has been an effective
team player and also has been actively involved in our
community. His many contributions will be missed,
but it is exciting to see the opportunity before him in
his new role.
Caring for a loved one who is ill or frail can be incredibly rewarding.
It can also be one of the toughest things you’ll ever do in your life.
Preparing meals, giving medicines, arranging medical care, paying
bills—tasks like these take a lot of time and energy.
So it’s no wonder that caregivers often give short shrift to themselves—
there’s not much room on that daily must-do list for anything personal.
Sound familiar?
If you find yourself nodding yes, then repeat this
caregiving mantra: You can’t do a good job of caring for someone else
if you don’t take care of yourself.
Here are some suggestions on how to carve out some much-needed—
and deserved—me time:
Accept and ask for help.
Gladly say yes to offers of help so that you
can do something for yourself, whether that’s seeing your own doctor
or recharging with a walk. And don’t hesitate to be specific about what
might help you most. It’s OK to say, for example, “Can you watch Mom for
two hours this Wednesday so I can see my dentist or get my hair done?”
Take advantage of community services.
These services—such
as nursing care, adult day care and home-delivered meals—can help
lighten your load. To find out what’s available, call your local Area
Agency on Aging.
Make your own health a priority.
Caregivers are more likely than non-
caregivers to develop serious health problems, in part because they’re so
busy tending to others that they neglect their own health. So don’t skip
checkups, screening tests or necessary medical care. And do your very
best to eat well, exercise regularly and get enough shut-eye.
Sources: Family Caregiver Alliance; Office on Women’s Health
CAREG I V ING
Make time for you
Tom Legel, former
chief financial officer
HONING SKILLS:
Samaritan nursing staff spend the day
learning new techniques and keeping skills current.
TAKE A BREAK:
Making time for yourself while caring for an ailing loved one is necessary.
S U M M E R 2 0 1 5
T H E S A M A R I T A N
7
N E W S , V I E W S & T I P S
S A M A R I T A N H E A L T H