Posted by Laurie (12.1.227.101) on September 26, 2003 at 16:18:08:
In Reply to: how long have you been in the Activity Profession posted by Martha on September 23, 2003 at 23:18:56:
Hi Everyone - I'm another Veteran - I've been in the biz over 20 years and all of it in Activities - I too have seen many changes and the most postive being the respect for activities professionals as part of the healthcare team - We used to be the fluff - now we are the meat and potatoes - the activities program sometimes can be the reason someone chooses one home over another and it is a very competitive business in this area - I have also seen that our staffing patterns have changed - when I started out I was one for 120 residents - now we staff one activity professional for 30 residents! Some ratios are even better than that. As far as negatives - I agree with the paperwork - I also believe a negative would be that there is not a lot of room for advancement in our field - It would be nice to see survey teams hiring activity professionals to do part of the surveying - I love this work and most days it doesn't feel like work - it is LIFE and we help people LIVE - that's the best part! Peace to you all! Keep smiling!
Laurie