In last week's LTC Connection, we invited you to share the ways that you make the holidays special for your residents. We really enjoyed reading the submissions and decided to share some of the responses with all of you this week. We also wanted to remind you that ProMed will have an altered delivery schedule this week in honor of the new year. Last but not least, we're shining a spotlight on sharps safety and how ProMed can help prevent needlestick injuries at your facility.

Friendly Reminder: ProMed's Holiday Delivery Schedule ProMed will be closed on Friday, December 31 and Monday, January 3 in honor of the new year. Orders placed after noon on December 23 will be delivered on or after Tuesday, January 4. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our customer care department at (800) 648-5190. Last week, we asked you to tell us how you make the holidays jolly for the residents at your facility. We loved the responses we received and wanted to share them with all of you! "My name is Kayla Erickson and I am a Nursing Scheduler at Marinuka Manor Nursing Home in Galesville, Wisconsin. Every year we do Secret Santa with our residents. Each employee picks a resident's name and then buys a gift for them. We make a whole afternoon out of it! First we start with a huge buffet of food for residents and staff, then we all eat together like one BIG FAMILY! Then after the meal we move on to the gift opening. Our residents always have a great time!" "Hello! This is Jennifer Bergmann at Calvin Community. One thing out of lots of things that we do for our residents during the holidays is a talent/no talent show. Anyone can enter and sing, dance, read a poem, play an instrument, etc. The residents look forward to this every year. The staff starts practicing mid-year. This year we had a ‘Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer' skit. They dressed up a wheelchair to look like a sleigh and had a grandma being run over by the reindeer and sleigh. It was great and the residents loved it! This is one time of the year that we can make our residents feel like they are at home again! I absolutely love the talent/no talent show we do for them!" "We make them festive by having cookie buffets, and carolers come in and we have Secret Santa gifts for the residents." - Audrey Hahn, Valley View Nursing Home Thanks to everyone who shared their holiday traditions with us!

Every year, between 600,000 and 800,000 needlestick injuries occur among healthcare workers. Although most of these injuries involve nurses, other healthcare workers, including laboratory staff, physicians and housekeepers, can also be affected. Having an effective sharps safety program in place at your facility is crucial. Registered promedsupply.com users can download our In-Service Guide: Safety Syringes & Sharps by clicking here. The guide contains information and statistics on needlestick injuries along with photo illustrations and descriptions of quality care best practices. It also features a listing of ProMed sharps safety products, such as: Insulin Safety Syringes TB Safety Syringes Sharps Containers Click here to view more items in our Syringes, Needles, Solutions and IV Therapy product category. Prices are visible only to registered site users. If you're not registered on the site yet, your ProMed Customer Care Professional will be happy to get you set up.