History of St. Anthony’s Nursing Home
By Terry Fennessye
St. Anthony’s Nursing Home is a private Nursing Home located in Pallasgreen in Co. Limerick. Established in 1969, residents came to live in home of the now Director of Care and Accommodation Manager, Mrs. Terry Fennessy.
“Back in 1969, when I was a very young girl”, Terry laughed, “I can almost remember it to the day, it was November, when our first Resident came to stay with us – a gentleman from Old Pallas. I was in boarding school at the time. Every time I came home on holidays my room was gone – I didn’t mind that, but so were all my Pop Star Posters!! Back then our Residents came to live in our home, so I have always had an extended family.”
Where did the idea come from?
“My mother (Mrs. Catherine Dillon) who was a Nurse, started the Nursing Home. She got the idea from a sister of hers who lived in Boston, who was also a Nurse. Rest Homes were very fashionable in the States at that time. My mother took the plunge and approached the Health Board for advice and permission. St. Anthony’s was then established. To the best of my knowledge, it was one of the first Care Homes for the elderly, in the Mid-West, if not the country. After some years, as our Residents grew in numbers, we changed to St. Anthony’s Nursing Home as we now had 24 hour professional nursing care. By the time I took over from my mother, we had 17 Residents. I found it very daunting with my mother’s untimely
passing, but with my husband, John’s support and our very loyal staff, we continued.”
You must have made a lot of renovations at the time?
“Indeed we did, and still continue to this day, but this is where it ends. The original house still stands at the core of the Nursing Home, with lots of extensions surrounding it. However with my son Sean, who followed in his grandmother’s footsteps, qualifying as a nurse – the latest extension is his brainchild.”
Beginning in 2012, St. Anthony’s Nursing Home embarked on significant renovations resulting in many wonderful improvements and an increase in the bed capacity to 60 beds. The centre continues to adapt to the changing needs of seniors and to re-invent itself to being responsive to new and emerging care needs.
Mission Statement
It is our mission to assist each resident in achieving and maintaining the highest level of physical and emotional well-being. All residents are treated with respect, dignity and sensitivity to their individual needs and abilities.
Core Values
Dignity: Respecting the inherent value and worth of each person.
Caring Service: Exceeding customer expectations by providing quality and respectful person centred service.
Compassion: Focusing on providing service with a spirit of empathy, love and concern.
Stewardship: Cultivating the resources entrusted to us to promote healing and
wellbeing.
The Aims of St Anthony’s Nursing Home
Dedicated to our tradition, it is the aim of St. Anthony’s Nursing Home to provide and promote healthcare to a standard of excellence, which embraces fundamental principles of good healthcare practices. Objectives of St Anthony’s Nursing Home
• To provide the highest standard of care and services to our residents, which is based on best practice, professional and legislative requirements.
• To maintain and promote the dignity and privacy of each resident.
• To ensure that our resident live in comfortable, clean and safe surroundings.
• To ensure that our resident will be treated with respect and that staff will be sensitive to individual needs and abilities.
• To ensure that residents’ opinions and preferences inform the delivery of care and services at St Anthony’s Nursing Home.
• To encourage and facilitate each resident to exercise choice in their daily lives as far as each resident is able.
• To promote and maximise the independence of every resident, no matter what their level of dependency.
• To promote the quality of life of each resident in St Anthony’s Nursing Home through the provision of meaningful activities according to individual needs and preferences.
Ethos of Care
Dedicated to our tradition, it is the objective of St. Anthony’s Nursing Home to provide and promote healthcare to a standard of excellence, which embraces fundamental principles of good healthcare practices.
All residents are treated with respect, dignity and sensitivity to their individual needs and abilities.
It is our mission to assist each resident in achieving and maintaining the highest level of
physical and emotional well-being.
Applying Our Ethos of Care
• Tailoring care to the individual
• Knowing our resident personally
• Respecting resident’ rights
• Ensuring resident’ privacy and dignity
• Maximising resident’ abilities and independence
• Managing risk appropriately
• Promoting choice
• Empowering resident
• Empowering relatives
• Earning the trust of resident and their relatives .
Staffing:
We will recruit staff so that they have the qualities and competence for:
• Promotion of dignity, privacy and respect
• Promotion of the safety and welfare of each resident
• Promotion of individuality in care
• Respecting the personal possessions of each residents, including that clothes carefully laundered and returned intact
• Ensuring that resident’s personal hygiene needs are met in accordance with their abilities, needs and preferences.
• Provision of appropriate meaningful activity and stimulation
• Promotion of a nutritious diet
St Anthony’s Nursing Home Organisational Chart
