We would like to thank you all for your company at our Christmas Family Gathering. It was a memorable occasion where we gathered to spend fun time with residents, their loved ones and staff. Families from around our homes had a chance to connect with each other over a lovely afternoon tea. It was wonderful that our gathering was unhampered by COVID-19.

Summer made a slow start here in Kapiti, but we have made the most of some recent sunny weather by taking residents to sit on the deck under the trees, enjoying ice creams and tending to the garden. We have been heading out in the van to the beach, estuary and the lavender farm. The lavender farm is always a favourite with its beautiful scents and scenery to enjoy. We will continue to make the most of long, warm, summery days by enjoying barbeques and walks outside.

2023 was a year of recruiting and training registered nurses. So far in 2024, we have been fortunate to recruit one new nurse, Arsenia, who started with us in January. It is wonderful to have her onboard our team. In December we also welcomed three new staff members, Joyce, Tintu and Rigil. Tintu and Rigil will be undertaking their Competence Assessment Programme course in a few weeks to become NZ registered nurses. We are fortunate to have all three join us as caregivers in the meantime.  We still have student nurses who are doing their placements and are soon to join our growing RN team. We continue to train two of our existing staff members as they work towards becoming registered diversional therapists. It will be wonderful to have them with us as DTs. With our new staff onboard, combined with further training of existing staff, we are feeling really optimistic about the year ahead!

As the summer days draw to an end, we wish you all the very best for the rest of your journey through 2024.

I hope you’ve all enjoyed the summer as we have at our homes. It is a lovely time to get out and about and enjoy the garden.

We have changed the format of our newsletters for this year. We know that most people receiving emails do so on their phones, this new format will cater to phone users better. It will also mean that we can send newsletters more regularly.

If you prefer to read a printed copy we will still have these available at each of our homes.

As with any new service we will look to improve as we go, so we will be asking for your feedback during the year.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the development in our homes over the course of the year. We will have a strong focus on staff training this year, we are further upgrading our IT systems and continuing to focus on our cultural care. Lots to look forward to.

We are also preparing for our Clinical Managers day in April. These have happened online for the past few years so it is wonderful to be able to plan an in-person session. These days are so important for sharing ideas and experiences from around our homes and improving the care we provide to each of our residents.

I enjoy meeting families as I travel around our homes so please do say hello if you see me when you are visiting.

I wish you and your whānau all the best for the year ahead.

Magic Moment

It was heart-warming to see teenagers, toddlers and grown-ups enjoying dancing with the residents at the Christmas gathering. A resident’s wife said that her grand kids loved every bit, dancing with their granddad; such great memories to keep.