Life Goals
By David Eppers

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about peoples “Life Goals”.  Usually someone tells you about one just after it’s checked off their list.  Life Goals are a short list of significant personal achievements that you would like to have throughout the course of your life.  A classic is, “running a marathon”.  Others I’ve heard include hiking the Appalachian trail, sky-diving, running with the bulls, writing a book, and climbing a mountain.  You can probably think of a few more.

A friend of mine recently checked the marathon life goal off his list.  It was quite an achievement considering that he is in his late 40’s and every other time he attempted to run a marathon he was side tracked by an injury.  He attributed his success in this attempt to a longer more gradual increase in his training mileage. 

Life Goals seem to have certain commonalities.  They require preparation, persistence, have a degree of difficulty, and result in a significant achievement.  I have yet to find someone who checked one off their list that didn’t say it was worth while.

Financial life goals can be similar.  What would be a significant achievement for you financially?  Is it building a retirement nest egg, saving for the down payment on a house, or both?  Like the marathon runner, a longer more gradual increase in saving now may be more effective for you than trying to save a larger portion of your income later.  Taking advantage of the Carespring 401K plan is an excellent way to make a small contribution big, especially with the company’s matching contributions. 

“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.”  -Vince Lombardi

Do yourself a favor.  Set a financial life goal today.  You can do it!

Garlic Shrimp with Spinach and Shitake
by Jim Gehle

2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp sherry or 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp packed brown sugar
2 ½ tsp toasted sesame oil
½ lb fresh shiitake mushroom caps, sliced ¼ thick
1 lb med shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 gloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh ginger
9 oz baby spinach leaves (about 12 c)

Whisk together soy sauce, sherry, and sugar in a small bowl. Heat oil in wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add shrimp, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry 1 minute. Add spinach and soy mixture and continue stir-frying until spinach has just wilted (shrimp will be cooked), about 1 minute.

Fact or Fiction
by Beth Lind

Fact or Fiction?  (see below for answers)

• To lose weight, you should cut out dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese because they’re fattening.
• If you lose weight on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, it’s just because you’re eating fewer calories.
• It’s OK to eat all you want of low-fat foods because they’re so low in calories.
• Health experts recommend losing weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week.
• Skipping breakfast is a good way to cut calories.

So many weight-loss plans and products sound appealing – how can you tell a safe and reliable method from one that will lighten only your pocketbook?  Steer clear when you spot these signs:

• A plan that claims you can lose weight without cutting calories or exercising.
• Get-thin-quick schemes that guarantee that you can “lose 30 pounds in 30 days” seldom deliver and may endanger your health.
• Programs that blame a particular food or food group for weight gain without regard to calories.

Fact or Fiction Answers:

• Fiction.  Research shows that getting enough dairy calcium seems to trigger the body to burn more fat, particularly fat around the waistline.  To reap the benefits, shoot for 3 to 4 servings of milk, yogurt and cheese as part of your reduced-calorie eating plan.
• Fact.  In the first few days of following a high-protein diet, your body sheds some water weight and muscle in response to being carbohydrate deprived.  After that, any weight lost is the result of eating fewer calories. 
• Fiction.  Low-fat or Fat-free does not mean low-calorie or calorie-free.  In fact, some low-fat products contain as many or more calories as their full-fat counterparts. 
• Fact.  Health experts recommend losing at a safe and realistic pace of 1-2 pounds per week.  This translates into a “calorie deficit” of 500 to 1000 calories per day, which you can achieve through a combination of eating less and being more physically active.
• Fiction.  When you skip breakfast, you may not burn as many calories during the morning because digesting food helps “wake up” your metabolism after a long night’s rest.  You may find yourself overeating later in the day when hunger pangs get the best of you.

Health Information Privacy and Security
submitted by Debbie Moore
(from the American Health Information Management Association)

To raise public awareness about issues related to the privacy and security of health information the AHIMA is sponsoring Health Information Privacy and Security Week April 13-19.

Most of us feel that our health and medical information is private and should be protected, and we want to know who has this information.  Privacy rules such as HIPAA give you rights over your health information and sets rules and limits on who can look at and receive your health information.   The practice of privacy is to keep all health information private and confidential, ensuring those who shouldn’t see it don’t see it.  Be sure to review your health care providers Notice of Privacy Practices which tells you how your health information may be used and shared.

While the healthcare industry’s steady evolution toward electronic health record systems has significant benefits, there is also a need for healthcare consumers to address the risks associated with technology and take an active role in monitoring the privacy and security of their health information.  Security is the practice of physically protecting health information in any electronic format (for example, computers, laptops, disks).  Any information that can be transmitted or used electronically must be safe from unauthorized use and access.  Security safeguards include logging in, user names, passwords, security badges, and audit trails that record and examine activity within a system. 

Privacy and security may be seen as separate entities, but in fact they both go hand in hand.  In order to achieve privacy, security must achieved and vice versa.   For those of us working as healthcare providers, it is important to recognize this relationship and support policies and procedures that comply with privacy and security practices.

Are You Vaccinated?r
by Dr. Art Gendelman

The newest vaccine for people over the age of 60 is the “Shingles Vaccine”. Shingles is usually a disease that occurs in people over the age of 50, but can occur much younger. Shingles is really a localized outbreak of Chicken Pox. Chicken Pox actually stays in your spinal cord forever. When it gets activated for any reason, the virus grows along your nerve endings to your skin. If you culture the skin lesions of Shingles you will grow the Chicken Pox virus! It can be very painful and can last for weeks to months and sometimes forever.

The vaccine is recommended for anyone over the age of 60. It does not guarantee that you will not get Shingles but it does decrease your risk considerably. The older you are, the less effective it works. If you have more questions, call me or look on-line at CDC.org under vaccines.

Recognizing Achievment
by Debbie Berling

Want to see someone’s face light up?   Tell them what a great job they are doing.

Think about your own situation.  How do you feel when you’re recognized for accomplishments?  Chances are you feel on top of the world. 

You’re not alone.   In the hustle and bustle of trying to get everything done, we often overlook showing appreciation to the people who work with us and do a good job every day.

The GOOD NEWS is that recognition is not only simple, it is EASY. It takes two words: THANK YOU.

When we say thank you, we demonstrate that we value the other person’s effort and that we appreciate the time and energy he or she has invested.  Saying thank you helps create a culture of recognition in which people go out of their way to appreciate co-workers’ efforts.   They then inspire others to follow their example.

THANK YOU is so simple we tend to forget about it.  Keep it simple.  Appreciate your co-worker, say thank you.

Customer Service
by Kim Majick

Customer Service entails Carespring being the single best solution to our customers problems.  With that being said, it is imperative that we all take "ownership" of serving our residents, families and community partners. 

Here is a terrific definition of ownership; "A commitment of the head, heart and hands to fix the problem and never affix the blame."  Imagine this scenario:  A family complains that their call light hasn't been answered in a timely fashion.  Now we have an opportunity...we can make excuses about how busy we are, or how short staffed you perceive us to be.  OR, we can own the problem by saying something such as this; "Mrs Smith, I am so sorry for your wait, but I am here to help you now and I will do my best to make sure this doesn't happen again."  Mrs. Smith now feels safe, and she respects you for taking responsibility of the situation. 

You have begun to establish a trusting relationship with Mrs. Smith.  Way to go!!!  Be an owner of every moment!