At Health Services of Northern New York, Inc. our goal is to perform home health care while fully respecting the fact that we are working within someone else’s private space.  Our secret is extensive staff training based on the following principle: we are invited guests in someone else’s home & we must act as courteous guests at all times.

What does this mean at a practical level?  Whether our nurses & nurse’s aides will be spending 30 minutes, a full day, or 30 days in a customer’s home, they sit down with their customers as soon as they arrive & discuss the customer’s needs & expectations.  They are instructed to learn where it is acceptable for them to be & what rooms or spaces are off-limits.  Our staff will agree with the customer on a place for the staff member to be while the customer is napping.  This place should be within earshot of the customer, & our staff is not to leave it except to go to the restroom.

Courteous guests do not help themselves to anything in their host’s home.  If they would like a glass of water, they ask for it.  Our professionals are trained to ask if they may get themselves a glass of water & to offer one to the customer.  When serving themselves they must never use good china, but rather whatever casual ware is available.

Courteous guests do not open the refrigerator or cupboards of their host’s home without asking, nor do they help themselves to food.  Our staff is trained to always bring their own lunch & only to accept food if it is offered.  They ask our customers what food they would like prepared & inquire where things are instead of just rummaging around.

We always remember that our customers themselves decide what goes on in their home.  We ask what television programs they like, whether they would like us to turn up the heating or turn on the air conditioning, & what lighting they prefer.  We respect their personal tastes:  if we are providing help with dressing & personal grooming we ask our customers what they would like to wear each day & how they would like to be groomed.

There are also a few simple little words that a courteous guest must never forget: please & thank you.  We repeatedly emphasize the importance of these golden words.Finally, we must remember that we are in our customers’ homes in order to help: we must be constantly offering & providing aid.  We must ask “is there anything else I can do for you?” at every opportunity.  If we can do this while always acting as a courteous guest, we will be able to accomplish our goal of providing health services while respecting our customer’s personal & private space.

Stress is everywhere & affects everyone. Money, or being highly blessed isn’t even a stress deterrent, stress seems to find its way into our daily lives somehow & all the time. Any degree of stress is uncomfortable & can bring on a whole slew of other problems that we must deal with.

The key to combating stress is to find a stress relief valve that works best for you & your situation, before it gets out of control & can leave destructive results. Many people will look to self-help books & gurus to find a way away from stress & into a more enjoyable life. There are many good ideas out there. The problem is that with ideas you need to do serious work to turn them into reality. Likely the best advice to come out of any of the loads of self-help business out there is the act of appreciating. Life situations that leave you wishing for a more satisfying & rewarding daily routine will induce stress. The stories are many of people who stress out over their jobs but feel helpless to do anything to change the cycle. It is a stressful day-to-day grind that seems to have no end. Weight gain is another big reason people get stressed out over. Every mirrored reflection is just a reminder that they are loosing control.

All of these things are annoying & irritating & will become more of an issue the more that you focus on it. Your mental attitude is huge. On the other h& if you decide to think positive & take a positive approach then these things will not be so overwhelming. If you can simply remember to appreciate what you have then you become less stressed & more positive immediately. It doesn’t mean that anything actually has changed, they just become less of a focus in your life & less use of your time. For some people, stress will render them unable to do anything & allow the stress to overwhelm them into accepting this as their fate & never realizing they can get control of the situation. For those who often feel this way, they should consider seeking professional medical help to rule out a chemical imbalance. A doctor will guide you through the process & determine if medication will get you back on track & back to your old self that every one misses.