Archive for category: Flu

Visitors – Who are you protecting this flu season?
Once again, we are asking all visitors to wear a badge that indicates to the staff how they are participating in preventing infection and the spread of infection during the flu season.

When visitors sign-in at Menno Home, Hospital and TE Assisted Living, they are asked to check off a box indicating their participation in the flu season precautions – either they are wearing a mask OR they have received their annual flu shot.

They are also asked to wear a badge that indicates their participation in the flu prevention program called “BE A FLU SEASON HERO”.

All members of the Menno Place Team are asked to initiate conversations with visitors about this flu season program.

If a visitor is wearing a badge, thank them for being a part of preventing the spread of flu and being a FLU SEASON HERO.

If a visitor is not wearing a badge, please ask them to return to the sign-in table to pick up a badge and wear it while visiting.

Types of badges:

1. Hot pink sticker – this is for either wearing a mask or receiving a flu shot. It is for infrequent visitors. Visitors dispose after use.
2. Hot pink clip-on badge – this is for frequent visitors who have a flu shot. Visitor keeps for future visits.
3. Bright green clip-on badge – this is for frequent visitors who have not had a flu shot. Visitor keeps for future visits.

FAQs:

1. Why are we doing the Flu Season Hero Awareness Campaign?
   We are working diligently with staff and visitors toward a zero-outbreak goal for Menno Home, Hospital and Terrace East Assisted Living. This goal will be impossible to achieve without the active involvement of our visitors. The badges are another way to invite visitors to do their part in preventing the spread of infection.
2. Who is expected to wear a badge?
   Everyone who visits is expected to wear a badge, including family members, vendors and entertainers.
3. Who is making sure people wear their badges?
   You are. If you are working in a unit and notice someone without a badge, it is your responsibility to ask them to return to the sign-in sheet to put on a badge during their visit.
4. How will this Flu Season Hero badge campaign make a difference?
   Each visitor will need to think about their role in preventing outbreaks. Outbreaks are stressful to residents and staff. The protocols that you follow during outbreak can be exhausting. We are working proactively with this campaign to raise awareness and individual responsibility from our visitors. We know that most of our outbreaks happen because a virus enters our units from outside. Our goal is to decrease the possibility of infection from the outside.
5. How do visitors know about the Flu Season Hero campaign?
   Posters – There are posters in the elevators and at the sign-in locations.
   Email Newsletters – All primary contacts for residents in residential care are subscribed to our Family, Friends and Residents email newsletter. There are announcements about the campaign in those emails.
   YOU – Each one of you are speaking out to visitors about the campaign. You are educating and inviting visitors to participate and make a difference!
6. Can a staff member be a Flu Season Hero?
   We know that all staff have either received their flu shot or wear a mask to protect our residents from the flu. You are heroes each time you do your part! You go above and beyond every time we have an outbreak and you follow the protocols. Thank you for your diligent work – each one of us doing our part is how we will achieve our goal! The Flu Season Badges are just for visitors to help identify their participation in the program.

 

Staff and Volunteer Flu Clinic:

November 21      1:30 pm to 4:30 pm     Menno Home       Learning Center

Rexall Pharmacy will be providing flu clinics at Menno Campus for any staff or volunteer to obtain their seasonal flu vaccine. Please make note of the following Flu Clinic dates, as our Nurses will not be available to immunize staff.  

You will need to bring with you:

• Care Card.
• Completed Flu Vaccine Consent (forms available at the Reception areas at each site and at the clinic). An accessible shirt with sleeves that easily roll up, or short sleeves.

Please note that there are flu clinics in the community if you are unable to attend those we are holding. If you receive your vaccination outside the facility, please provide a copy of your vaccination to your manager.

Thank you.

Visitors – Who are you protecting this flu season?
Once again, we are asking all visitors to wear a badge that indicates to the staff how they are participating in preventing infection and the spread of infection during the flu season.

When visitors sign-in at Menno Home, Hospital and TE Assisted Living, they are asked to check off a box indicating their participation in the flu season precautions – either they are wearing a mask OR they have received their annual flu shot.

They are also asked to wear a badge that indicates their participation in the flu prevention program called “BE A FLU SEASON HERO”.

All members of the Menno Place Team are asked to initiate conversations with visitors about this flu season program.

If a visitor is wearing a badge, thank them for being a part of preventing the spread of flu and being a FLU SEASON HERO.

If a visitor is not wearing a badge, please ask them to return to the sign-in table to pick up a badge and wear it while visiting.

Types of badges:

1. Hot pink sticker – this is for either wearing a mask or receiving a flu shot. It is for infrequent visitors. Visitors dispose after use.
2. Hot pink clip-on badge – this is for frequent visitors who have a flu shot. Visitor keeps for future visits.
3. Bright green clip-on badge – this is for frequent visitors who have not had a flu shot. Visitor keeps for future visits.

FAQs:

1. Why are we doing the Flu Season Hero Awareness Campaign?
   We are working diligently with staff and visitors toward a zero-outbreak goal for Menno Home, Hospital and Terrace East Assisted Living. This goal will be impossible to achieve without the active involvement of our visitors. The badges are another way to invite visitors to do their part in preventing the spread of infection.
2. Who is expected to wear a badge?
   Everyone who visits is expected to wear a badge, including family members, vendors and entertainers.
3. Who is making sure people wear their badges?
   You are. If you are working in a unit and notice someone without a badge, it is your responsibility to ask them to return to the sign-in sheet to put on a badge during their visit.
4. How will this Flu Season Hero badge campaign make a difference?
   Each visitor will need to think about their role in preventing outbreaks. Outbreaks are stressful to residents and staff. The protocols that you follow during outbreak can be exhausting. We are working proactively with this campaign to raise awareness and individual responsibility from our visitors. We know that most of our outbreaks happen because a virus enters our units from outside. Our goal is to decrease the possibility of infection from the outside.
5. How do visitors know about the Flu Season Hero campaign?
   Posters – There are posters in the elevators and at the sign-in locations.
   Email Newsletters – All primary contacts for residents in residential care are subscribed to our Family, Friends and Residents email newsletter. There are announcements about the campaign in those emails.
   YOU – Each one of you are speaking out to visitors about the campaign. You are educating and inviting visitors to participate and make a difference!
6. Can a staff member be a Flu Season Hero?
   We know that all staff have either received their flu shot or wear a mask to protect our residents from the flu. You are heroes each time you do your part! You go above and beyond every time we have an outbreak and you follow the protocols. Thank you for your diligent work – each one of us doing our part is how we will achieve our goal! The Flu Season Badges are just for visitors to help identify their participation in the program.

 

What is influenza?

Influenza, often called the flu, is an infection of the upper airway caused by an influenza virus.

Getting sick with influenza also puts you at risk of other infections. These include viral or bacterial pneumonia which affect the lungs. The risk of complications, which can be life-threatening, is greater for seniors 65 years and older, very young children, and people who have lung or heart diseases, certain chronic health conditions, or weakened immune systems.

Healthy pregnant women in the second half of their pregnancy are at greater risk of being hospitalized following infection with influenza virus.

In Canada, thousands of people are hospitalized and may die from influenza and its complications during years with widespread or epidemic influenza activity.

How can influenza be prevented?

You can reduce the risk of getting influenza or spreading it to others by:

• washing your hands regularly;
• promptly disposing of used tissues in the waste basket or garbage;
• coughing and sneezing into your shirt sleeve rather than your hands;
• staying home when you are ill; and
• getting an influenza vaccine.

Getting an influenza vaccine can help prevent you from getting sick with influenza and from spreading it to others.

How does influenza spread?

Influenza spreads easily from person to person through coughing, sneezing, or having face-to-face contact.

The virus can also spread when a person touches tiny droplets from a cough or a sneeze on another person or object and then touches their own eyes, mouth or nose before washing their hands.

An infected person can spread the influenza virus even before feeling sick. An adult can spread the virus from about 1 day before to 5 days after symptoms start. Young children may be able to spread the virus for a longer period of time.

What are the symptoms?

Influenza symptoms can include fever, headache, muscle pain, runny nose, sore throat, extreme tiredness, and cough. Children may also experience nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Although infections from other viruses may have similar symptoms, those due to the influenza virus tend to be worse.

Symptoms can begin about 1 to 4 days, or an average of 2 days, after a person is first exposed to the influenza virus. Fever and other symptoms can usually last up to 7 to 10 days, but the cough and weakness may last 1 to 2 weeks longer.

What is the home treatment?

If you get sick with influenza, home treatment can help ease symptoms. Follow the self-care advice below:

• Get plenty of rest.
• Drink extra fluids to replace those lost from fever.
• Avoid smoking and ask others not to smoke in the house.
• Breathe moist air from a hot shower or from a sink filled with hot water to help clear a stuffy nose.
• Anti-influenza drugs or antivirals are available by prescription, but these must be started within 48 hours of the start of your symptoms to work best. These will shorten symptoms by about 3 days if given within 12 hours and by about 1.5 days if given within 2 days of the start of symptoms.
• Non-prescription cough and cold medications are available for relief of influenza symptoms but these are not recommended for children less than 6 years of age.

*Ibuprofen should not be given to children under 6 months of age without first speaking to your health care provider.

When should I see a health care provider?

Consult your health care provider early if you develop flu-like symptoms and you have a condition that puts you at higher risk of complications. You should also call your health care provider if your symptoms get worse, such as shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chest pain, or signs of dehydration (such as dizziness when standing or low urine output).

For more HealthLinkBC File topics, visit www.HealthLinkBC.ca/healthfiles or your local public health unit. For nonemergency health information and advice in B.C. visit www.HealthLinkBC.ca or call 8-1-1 (toll-free). For deaf and hearing-impaired assistance, call 7-1-1. Translation services are available in more than 130 languages on request.

PDF – Download: HealthLinkBC – Facts about Influenza (the Flu)