Care staff from the local Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford Bluebird Care office recently took part in a very interesting training and awareness day on Palliative Care and Multiple Sclerosis.

The Palliative Care training was given by Bernie Brophy from the local Carlow/Kilkenny HomeCare Team. Carers found the presentation very beneficial with everyone keen to learn more about this important area. The afternoon session was hosted by the MS Society with a detailed and interesting presentation on MS and some guidance on how to Care for people with MS.

Brian Egan Managing Director of the local Bluebird Care office said that there was great feedback from everyone about the training. This forms part of the varied Bluebird Care Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford training programme. Aside from the mandatory Induction & Orientation workshop and Manual Handling and Patient Moving Training the local office has held training workshops in the following areas over the last year : Dementia & Alzheimer’s Care, Disability Awareness, Parkinson’s, Motor Neurones and now Palliative Care and Multiple Sclerosis.

On a national basis Bluebird Care are currently looking at rolling out new training initiatives for Carers throughout the country as training continues to provide a key focus for Bluebird Care as all offices continue to deliver a high standard of Care for people of all ages and needs in their own homes and in the community.

Bluebird Care are a leading Home Care provider with offices throughout Ireland providing Care on a private basis and as a preferred provider for the HSE. Flexible Care visits are provided from hourly care to 24/7 Live In Care with an individualised Care Plan completed for each client.

Bluebird Care Carlow/Kilkenny & Waterford would like to welcome Luan Lyons to Bluebird Care as our new Care Supervisor.

Luan is a qualified Nurse (BSc General Nursing) and has over 10 years experience working in Care in the community as well as in residential and hospital settings. Luan will primarily be responsible for staff supervisons, the ongoing maintenance of staff files, the continued implementation of our stringent policies and procedures as well as supporting Liz Carey-Miller in her role as Care Manager in areas such as Risk Assessments, Care reviews, Carer Appraisals. Luan will also work with Care Coordinator Marie Conway with Roster & Coordination duties and of course will be there as an additional support for our Carers providing Care throughout Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford.

Luan is passionate about the delivery of a high standard of Care which is a key focus for Bluebird Care and we would like to wish Luan the best of luck in her new role with Bluebird Care.

Bluebird Care Carlow/Kilkenny and Waterford provides a flexible and professional care service, we work as a direct provider for Carlow/Kilkenny HSE and Waterford HSE and on a private basis and can be contacted on 056 780 6054 or email ckw@bluebirdcare.ie

Bluebird Care Kilkenny recently provided some fundraising for their local Alzheimer’s Association. This was based on the total score in the All Ireland Hurling Final where Bluebird Care contributed €10 per point scored and Michael Fennelly who just received the GAA GPA Hurler of the year award was on hand to present the cheque for €420.
Managing Director of Bluebird Care Kilkenny Brian Egan commented ‘Bluebird Care provide Care for people with a range of different needs throughout Ireland and so work with a lot of people who suffer with Dementia and Alzheimer’s. We see the great work being done by the Alzheimers Association locally so we are glad to be able to help out with some fundraising for them.’

Bluebird Care is delighted to announce the opening of its 14th office in Meath, serving the county from the 4th of April
2011. The offices are located at Unit 2, Oldtown Road, Johnstown, Navan, Co. Meath where they
are presently recruiting and raising awareness of the unique care services provided by Bluebird
Care. The Directors J.J. Fay and Gavin Kane can’t wait to get started and along with their team are
implementing the robust induction training that all Bluebird Care staff must undertake successfully
prior to commencing work.

Bluebird Care Meath offers private home care to the elderly, acquired brain injury clients, those with
physical & mental disabilities and those requiring some respite care. From a minimum visit time of
15 minutes, Bluebird Care Meath offers hourly care, overnight care and complete live in care, all care
plans ensuring you receive the care you need in the home you love. Bluebird care is dedicated to
providing and maintaining the highest possible standard of care at all times.

All enquiries to (046) 9090 333 or email: meath@bluebirdcare.ie Website: www.bluebirdcare.ie

A big thank you to all our Carers, Nurses & Social Care Workers for attending a 1 day Training Course on ‘Dementia and the Older Person’ given by Gerry Farrell during January.

The Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny office has scheduled two Dementia Training workshops for all Care Staff . The training will be provided by Deirdre Lenihan of DML Nursing Services. Deirdre has more than 20 years experience in Care of the Elderly, Dementia and Challenging Behaviours in both the private and public healthcare sectors.

Training is a key focus area for Care staff in Bluebird Care and the Dementia training follows on from the very successful Disability Awareness training workshops which took  place recently. Training and upskilling of staff is hugely important and ensures that carers are competent and confident when providing Care in the home, according to Brian Egan the Managing Director of the Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny office.  Brian continued to say that ‘The Dementia training is just one module of our continuous training programme but its a very important area so hopefully all staff will benefit from it’ . There are currently more than 44,000 people in Ireland with dementia, with the number expected to be in excess of 104,000 by 2036 unless there is a medical breakthrough so it is important that Care Staff can have the opportunity to increase their knowledge in this area.