They have been doing a great job but there are a lot of them, so many that I still don't know all their names and faces. I'm wondering if anyone has any great ideas to say thank you?
I gave restaurant gift cards to hospice workers. I brought a lovely flower arrangement. I made homemade desserts for them. I made a cash donation at the end.
You could have lunch or supper brought in for them all one day. Or just some good bakery for them all to enjoy. I'm sure they will appreciate anything you should choose to do, as I have a feeling theirs is somewhat of a thankless job.
A nice card made out to all the staff and several trays of goodies delivered during each shift is always appreciated.
I found that telling them face to face how much I appreciated what they were doing, not only for my dad but, everyone in the facility and how awesome they were really made a difference. I thanked them every time I saw them and I always asked them how they were doing. Their's tends to be a thankless job and nobody remembers that they are human beings dealing with the difficult task of caring for our elders.
You will get your dad special care by making his caregivers feel appreciated and special.
I made homemade goodies and they were a big hit. I did something with chocolate, something with fruit and something savory and prayed that I hit all tastes among the staff. Oh, get a mylar balloon to attach to the trays that says thank you or you are special, it shows all the staff that there are goodies for all. Dollar stores are awesome for this.
This is the official reason they cite- what many don’t know is that some cg agencies inform families of this policy and state if they really want to give a gift of appreciation to send it to the office and from there the office takes what they want from the gift and give the rest to the caregiver. Cg agencies are predatory by nature ( charging 28 per hour and only giving the caregiver - the one who’s actually doing all the work and interacting with the senior a barely living wage
As a hospital worker I can tell you we LOVE food!! The problem is sometimes to know how much to take! A dozen doughnuts does not go far for 30 staff members, but 6 pizzas might do the trick.. I used to go to the dollar store and buy boxes of snacks like wrapped mini muffins, tiny boxes of candy.. whatever fits your budget and put it all in a basket.. not too pricey but goes a long way, And actually we all love fruit,, maybe a bag or two of clementines and a bunch of bananas? And if they have a pod type coffee maker, a big box of coffee pods is great! ( I get them at Ollies or a place like that) This is what I did for Mom and MIL and FIL when they were in AL or rehab. Don;t stress your budget,, just the thought counts alot!
I gave the nurses and aides at my mom's NH gifts for Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day. Christmas they got nice handcare products, lotions, manicure kits, etc. On Valentines day they all got boxes of chocolates. Easter they got Visa gift cards so they could use them for whatever. On Christmas, i also gave all the departments ( housekeeping, laundry, PT, kitchen, and Admin staff boxes of fancy cookies. Nothing was very expensive, but I wanted them to know they were appreciated.
Ask the administrator to give you the names, and ask her opinion on determining the degree of their involvement and what gifts might be appropriate. Then you decide.
That’s good. I know your in a different area of senior care but I wanted to mention what some here have noticed in other threads is how wrong it is that many caregiving agencies have a policy (from the the higher ups in the office who get paid for most of the work the caregiver in the field does) that either discourages or doesn’t allow caregivers to accept gifts of appreciation from families of loved ones under their care. individual caregivers in a home assumes all or most of the care while staff in a business such as assisted livings have the duties spread out among them ( as opposed to a caregiver who’s only one person) Last year there was a active thread about how unfair this is to the caregiver but also disheartening bc those kind of things showing appreciation is important to boost morale and lend a feeling of support by recognizing all they do in a tangible way.
I also made the effort to bring thank yous when my dad was in the hospital and rehab. The care he received most of the time was good but recognizing their efforts only ensured the good care.
Working in patient care myself I knew treats like cookies, pound cakes or bagels were always appreciated. Staff is always hungry.
Unfortunately during Covid time home baked goodies are not allowed.
In my mother's senior residence management organizes an "employee appreciation fund" and collects money during the year. At the end of the year they distribute it to staff as bonuses. It's impersonal, but money is always appreciated. We're not allowed to give personal gifts. Or talk to their supervisor about what would be appropriate and doable.
I was sewing masks for both staff and residents. Staff needed to wear N-95 masks at work, but they appreciated the colorful masks I made for non-working hours. Colorful is good for both sexes. Pretty flowered ones for ladies and sports theme for men.
We bought whole 30+ person AL staff Chick-fil-a boxed lunches (sandwiches, chips, pickles, and cookies, plus gallons of lemonade, sweet and unsweetened tea. CFA helped me make good choice of what to buy, how many, etc. I paid for it and CFA did the rest! They bagged all 35 boxes up nicely and I drove up to get them. At that time it was around $250 for all and my mom loved bring part of funding and giving the gift. I delivered the boxes to the AL on a beautiful Friday at lunchtime, for the whole shift and office staff. The receptionist and I made a nice arrangement of the boxes and drinks on the AL cafe table. The staff were so thrilled when they learned they were being served lunch by mom and family and felt so loved and appreciated. Will do it again soon!
I filled a large serving tray, that had 2 inch sides, with all kinds of bought, packaged treats. Crackers. Cookies, candy, chips, hot chocolate, etc and left it in their break room (with the help of the manager) along with a thankyou note.
The parade of staff is one of the reasons why I dislike in general the concept of these places is it removes the personal love and interaction within their own home from family- familiarity and personalized care is more important to seniors of a more advanced age and this replaces that with an array of staff coming and going in a artificial living environment- however nice and clean they’re decorated- like when I go to a nice hotel it might be nice for a day or two but wouldn’t want to live there. Also when one considers a person with more advanced dementia may not be able to advocate for themselves. The average resident in memory care let’s say gets one visit a week, I tend to think many get less visits than that. How does family really know what kind of care they’re getting would be a big concern of mine. Unless a close family member is there 2-3 times a week spending lengths of time and visiting at different times it’s hard to assess the day to day reality of their care
I'm not sure what this has to do with the question... I go daily and I see the same caregivers and how kindly they are treating everyone, not just my dad.
About once per month I’d sent in six pizzas, salad and soda for the staff at my dads memory care/assisted living. I was an out of state caregiver so this was a good way for some Public Relations in between my visits. The staff would stop and thank dad all day long for the goodies. He had no idea what they were talking about but liked the nice attention.
For Mothers Day I made a big pan of a traditional dish that fed everybody including the residents. My mom was in a small AL. They loved it! Food is always a hit.
Most places will not allow "home made" goodies at this point due to COVID. Some morning bring in a LARGE box of Coffee, maybe some Cocoa and a big box of donuts and some fruit and yogurt for the morning staff. (Dunkin and other coffee places do large boxes of coffee and cocoa) Later have pizza or Sub sandwiches delivered for the afternoon and evening staff. The entire staff will appreciate that. (no one likes eating "facility" food all the time) If there is any one of the staff that you find particularly helpful a note of thanks to them as well as to the administration to be placed in their employee file would be great. It might make the difference in who gets a better choice of days off, or even a raise. The other thing that you can do is, and this is going to sound so simple it is even silly writing it.. When you go to visit SMILE and greet the staff when you encounter someone. Right down to the person pushing a mop in the hall. Treat each staff person with the same respect that you would want them to show you or your spouse, mom, dad, sister,.....
Oh, and if you have a flower garden at home clip a few and leave them at the reception desk as you enter. They are often forgotten and a few clipped flowers cost you nothing but it is amazing how a smile can change your day!
We took occasional treats in while my MIL was in hospice. A cake, a pie, etc. The day she died we bought a cobbler and took it back up. It gave us a chance to talk and express our gratitude. Also, if they allow it, while my MIL would nap I would visit with some of the other patients. Just a quick stop by to say hi, and check on them. Often the patients loved ones aren’t able to visit, so a quick visit helps cheer them up. One gentleman would always ask me to pray with him. This also gave the staff a chance to catch a breath or spend more time with someone else. I never thought I could do something like that, but found it very comforting. Whatever you decide to do, I know it will be appreciated.
Write a personalized note telling them how THEIR support and assistance, has affected you and your loved one.
You don't need to know their names if you pass them out (your notes) OR you could ask the administrator for their names OR write one note to all of them and give to the administrator to post in a public area.
Amazon sells snack packs and very reasonably priced. Chips, cookies, etc. Have it sent to your house and then add a note. You have the option of marking it as a gift and a short note, but the note is not really noticed unless someone is looking for it - that's why I say deliver to your house so you can add your own handwritten note. Maybe tie a balloon on the box. Make it a little festive. Deliver to the front door, if you can't go in.
Perhaps pizza delivery once a month - alternate day shift and night shift delivery. Call the facility before you order to get a contact name and explain what you're doing.
My Mom's facility has 70 employees ( including housekeeping, food service, and others). I made a poster with pictures of Mom throughout her life with a heartfelt letter in the middle thanking them for all they do. Administrator placed it in the employee's lunch room along with the individual packaged chocolate macadamia nuts ( Mom loves Hawaii). I bought almost 200 of them and divided them into 3 boxes -one for each shift. I think the staff appreciated it, but with Covid-19 I never really knew. I only had phone conversations with a few members.
In the midst of the pandemic we ordered sandwiches for each AL staff member from my favorite Italian deli. It also really helped out the deli. It took coordination from the AL's staff to get the orders from each person on all 3 shifts. When I picked up the order the deli had thrown in dessert cannoli's for each staff member at no charge! It cost me about $300 including the deli workers' tip.
A letter to administration can do more for their morale than you could ever imagine. People can live off that praise for YEARS given that what they most get is criticism. Do write the administration. Tell them what you told us about not being able to get the names together well enough, but let them know how much you appreciate the good care, and how much you hope it is passed on to the caregivers. If you go to visit then some donuts, anything you can think of, and tell them what you tell us. I so agree with you that this is so needed; I so appreciated the good care of the ALF of my brother. I will NEVER forget it. I wrote and told them over and over, even made a kimono for one special person. But I could never tell them enough or give enough to tell them.
As someone who worked night shift at a place where employee appreciation meant hot catered lunches (delivered about 8 hours before I got there), please remember the second or third shift folks as well :)
Imho, for several individuals who had assisted my mother in MANY ways through the years, we provided them with a gift card and also a specialty bakery item that could not be purchased in their locale on two separate occasions. One friend had provided my mother a home cooked meal every week for many years.
Check with the director of the facility. Mom's AL had a fund we contributed to at Christmas that was distributed to all the aides. They asked that the residents not give gifts or money to specific staff as a company policy. This was to protect the residents and avoid favoritism.
Food is always welcome, something the staff can share. I dropped off Subway sandwiches a couple of times. Notes of thanks and cards too.
That's so nice that you want to show appreciation to the staff, marydys. Everyone's suggestions below are great and would be appreciated. My mom had a private room in an LTC and we also had private aides for her so I was constantly buying things for her private aides and LTC staff.
For her aides and the staff I knew well I tried to tailor frequent gifts to them, like sugar-free chocolates for the diabetics, (regular chocolates for everyone else), small bags of Swedish Fish for those who I knew loved them, inexpensive battery operated hand held fans for those with hot flashes, and beautiful Chinese or Spanish-style folded paper or cloth fans - everyone loved those. I bought them in dollar stores and in Chinatown.
The soft pretzels are great in Phila where Mom was so I occasionally brought in a large amount of mini soft pretzels for everyone. I stayed in Phila for 4.5 yrs to care for my parents but I actually live in Canada so whenever I'd go home to Toronto I'd bring back inexpensive, easy to fit in my suitcase Canadian themed gifts like pens, and small packs of "Shirley" brand cookies that they all loved but couldn't find in Philly. (Mom's name was Shirley & she loved those cookies!) While visiting New Orleans I bought N.O. themed large cloth bags for Mom's aides because they all used bags like that every day and they were easy to pack and inexpensive. They loved them.
We also kept food in Mom's room for her aides but staff knew they could come and get some too. Small bags of chips, crackers, cookies, mini-muffins, oranges, apples, clementines. One of Mom's private aides originally started this because she felt it would make for a better relationship between staff and our private aides as some of the staff treated our aides terribly. It did help a bit, plus our own aides appreciated the snacks. Also, I would often bring lunches for our private aides from Wawa stores or call before coming to see if they'd like me to bring them something specific.
Good luck to you and your loved one memory care. I'm sure any show of kindness will be appreciated.
I found that telling them face to face how much I appreciated what they were doing, not only for my dad but, everyone in the facility and how awesome they were really made a difference. I thanked them every time I saw them and I always asked them how they were doing. Their's tends to be a thankless job and nobody remembers that they are human beings dealing with the difficult task of caring for our elders.
You will get your dad special care by making his caregivers feel appreciated and special.
I made homemade goodies and they were a big hit. I did something with chocolate, something with fruit and something savory and prayed that I hit all tastes among the staff. Oh, get a mylar balloon to attach to the trays that says thank you or you are special, it shows all the staff that there are goodies for all. Dollar stores are awesome for this.
The director might allow lunch to be brought in if the staff doesn't know whose family paid for it, but don't be too sure.
On Christmas, i also gave all the departments ( housekeeping, laundry, PT, kitchen, and Admin staff boxes of fancy cookies. Nothing was very expensive, but I wanted them to know they were appreciated.
Working in patient care myself I knew
treats like cookies, pound cakes or bagels were always appreciated. Staff is always hungry.
Unfortunately during Covid time home baked goodies are not allowed.
Be sure to label a tray for each shift.
to advocate for themselves. The average resident in memory care let’s say gets one visit a week, I tend to think many get less visits than that. How does family really know what kind of care they’re getting would be a big concern of mine. Unless a close family member is there 2-3 times a week spending lengths of time and visiting at different times it’s hard to assess the day to day reality of their care
Some morning bring in a LARGE box of Coffee, maybe some Cocoa and a big box of donuts and some fruit and yogurt for the morning staff. (Dunkin and other coffee places do large boxes of coffee and cocoa) Later have pizza or Sub sandwiches delivered for the afternoon and evening staff. The entire staff will appreciate that. (no one likes eating "facility" food all the time)
If there is any one of the staff that you find particularly helpful a note of thanks to them as well as to the administration to be placed in their employee file would be great. It might make the difference in who gets a better choice of days off, or even a raise.
The other thing that you can do is, and this is going to sound so simple it is even silly writing it..
When you go to visit SMILE and greet the staff when you encounter someone. Right down to the person pushing a mop in the hall.
Treat each staff person with the same respect that you would want them to show you or your spouse, mom, dad, sister,.....
Oh, and if you have a flower garden at home clip a few and leave them at the reception desk as you enter. They are often forgotten and a few clipped flowers cost you nothing but it is amazing how a smile can change your day!
Either a catered meal or prepackaged snacks and beverages. Food is always a winner.
with covid, it couldn't be home made.
A box of Sees (or other) candy is always a good choice.
* * *
You don't need to know their names if you pass them out (your notes)
OR
you could ask the administrator for their names
OR
write one note to all of them and give to the administrator to post in a public area.
* * *
Perhaps pizza delivery once a month - alternate day shift and night shift delivery. Call the facility before you order to get a contact name and explain what you're doing.
Even Subway sandwiches can be catered.
When I picked up the order the deli had thrown in dessert cannoli's for each staff member at no charge! It cost me about $300 including the deli workers' tip.
Food is always welcome, something the staff can share. I dropped off Subway sandwiches a couple of times. Notes of thanks and cards too.
For her aides and the staff I knew well I tried to tailor frequent gifts to them, like sugar-free chocolates for the diabetics, (regular chocolates for everyone else), small bags of Swedish Fish for those who I knew loved them, inexpensive battery operated hand held fans for those with hot flashes, and beautiful Chinese or Spanish-style folded paper or cloth fans - everyone loved those. I bought them in dollar stores and in Chinatown.
The soft pretzels are great in Phila where Mom was so I occasionally brought in a large amount of mini soft pretzels for everyone. I stayed in Phila for 4.5 yrs to care for my parents but I actually live in Canada so whenever I'd go home to Toronto I'd bring back inexpensive, easy to fit in my suitcase Canadian themed gifts like pens, and small packs of "Shirley" brand cookies that they all loved but couldn't find in Philly. (Mom's name was Shirley & she loved those cookies!) While visiting New Orleans I bought N.O. themed large cloth bags for Mom's aides because they all used bags like that every day and they were easy to pack and inexpensive. They loved them.
We also kept food in Mom's room for her aides but staff knew they could come and get some too. Small bags of chips, crackers, cookies, mini-muffins, oranges, apples, clementines. One of Mom's private aides originally started this because she felt it would make for a better relationship between staff and our private aides as some of the staff treated our aides terribly. It did help a bit, plus our own aides appreciated the snacks. Also, I would often bring lunches for our private aides from Wawa stores or call before coming to see if they'd like me to bring them something specific.
Good luck to you and your loved one memory care. I'm sure any show of kindness will be appreciated.