Patient’s Age: 77-years-old
Admission Date: 4/6/19
Discharge Date: 4/25/19
Discharged to: Home
Length of Stay: 19 Days
Reason for Stay: Respiratory Failure.
How did this patient hear about Glengariff? From a relative that had been here for short-term rehabilitation.


Details of Experience:
Nancy Welland had arrived at Glengariff Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center for short term rehabilitation at the Pratt building on April 6th from Glen Cove Hospital. Nancy had heard great things about Glengariff, from a family member who needed short term rehab after developing sepsis. Although she had only heard excellent things about our community, she was still nervous to start her rehabilitation journey in a new setting. Upon her arrival, Nancy was very impressed at how clean and well-kept the building was. She immediately told Teddy, the director of concierge services, that it was very important to her that whenever she stays somewhere it must be sanitary and fresh.

It was delightful to her to see that the hallways constantly had someone cleaning it and that all rooms would be cleaned multiple times a day. After settling into her room, with all her clothing put away nicely, she got a chance to meet the team.

She was first greeted by Maria, the nursing supervisor of the unit Nancy was staying on. Maria assured her that if there were ever any questions or difficulties that she had, she was always available to discuss them. Nancy was then introduced to her nurse, Susan, who went over some of Nancy’s medical history with her. Shortly after that, Nancy was seen by Noel, the Physical Therapist, and Autumn, the Occupational Therapist. They both did an evaluation of Nancy so that they can create an outline for her rehabilitation plan. After everyone had done their initial assessments, Nancy met Margret, the patient advocate, and Teddy. They both went over the scheduling of the community and got a chance to understand

Nancy on a more personal level. This was very special to Nancy, she had been so overwhelmed being in the hospital for the last couple of weeks with not many people to speak with.
Nancy was ready to start her rehabilitation process right away! On her second day at our community, she was in the gym bright and early in the morning!

Nancy’s respiratory failure had made her body weak, and this was apparent in the first few days of Nancy’s rehabilitation journey.

Together with the encouragement and support of her Physical Therapist, Joy, and Occupational Therapist, Jimmy, she ended off with a strong first week.

By the end of her first week, Nancy was walking 50 feet with a rolling walker with moderate assistance. Her goal for the next week was to be more independent when walking. Joy reassured Nancy that there was no race to getting better and that the goal was to ensure she would be walking independently and safely by the time she was ready to go back home.
During occupational therapy with Jimmy, Nancy required some assistance doing her activities of daily living such as upper body dressing, using the shower, and making use of the grab bars in the restroom. By week number two, Nancy had made excellent strides. Just as the goal that had been set for her, she was now ambulating 100 feet with a rolling walking in total independence and only moderate supervision.

Nancy was so proud of herself for not needing hands-on help from Joy to use her walker. Things also progressed greatly in occupational therapy. Nancy was able to use the restroom and dress with only close contact guarded help from Jimmy. She was so glad to be seeing the results of her body getting back to what it was before the hospitalization.

By her third and final week at Glengariff, Nancy had exceeded even her own expectations, as she was now walking 175 feet with a rolling walker and distant supervision. She felt so good about being able to walk in the hallways with Joy following behind her. This truly made her glow. In occupational therapy, Nancy was able to now shower and use the restroom by herself and felt very confident about doing so even going home, where she lived alone. Nancy was so very thankful to the entire therapy department for all the hard work they offered to support her health.

Although the main reason Nancy had come to Glengariff was to get her strength back, she also made sure to get out of her room as much as possible and tried to enjoy many of the activities that Glengariff has to offer. Her favorite activity was using the Virtual Reality headsets, which made images appear to be 4D. She enjoyed using the headset and seeing places such as China and India up close. Nancy also participated in the Glengariff dining room experience, which all the other patients told her she would enjoy attending. Nancy went to the dining room for both lunch and dinner and enjoyed the food made by the chef, Paul.

Upon her discharge, Nancy had such a large list of people she wanted to thank for making her experience so pleasant at Glengariff. She started by praising her nurses, Susan and Patricia, explaining just how caring and thoughtful they were to her when handing out medication and chatting. She also elaborated on her nurse aids, Sandra and Nubia, who always answered her call bell with a smile. On her final day, Nancy offered, “I can remember just how nervous I was on my first day here. I am a person who is always on edge and I have a difficult time adjusting to new settings. Being at Glengariff made me feel so comfortable and I must thank the staff for making my stay this way.”