We were met by the members of the Laconia Club for the handover and whisked off for the day up to the beautiful White Mountains! It was a lovely day and had a beautiful lunch in Conway.
Our time at Laconia saw great vocational trips for all members of the team and an opportunity to learn about the area and facilities that they have available in the local area. We were lucky enough to visit the Laconia Library, Belknap Mill and the Lakes Region Community College. Unfortunately our Moose Tour was cancelled due to the sudden snow fall!!
Dave Livingston was good enough to host us at his home on the lake for a day of rest and relaxation and also a lovely BBQ in the sunshine.
We were welcomed not only at Laconia Rotary but also a surprise visit to the Meredith Club.
Hayley
I spent my first vocational visit with the Community Health and Hospice in Laconia, this gave me firsthand experience on how the Hospice in the Home scheme worked as I was shadowing a Nurse for the morning. I found this a little difficult at times but gave me a true understanding of this much needed service. I also spent time with the Hospice Program Manager and the Director of Fund Development; I was proud to discuss the achievements that we make at home with our fundraising and also discuss their best practices that I can bring back to the UK.
My second vocational visit was to United Way; I met with the Executive Director who gave me the opportunity to sit in a meeting at the State Offices where they were discussing fundraising.
I discussed in great detail with Liz the scheme that they rely on so heavily for their fundraising which is Payroll Giving. We discussed in detail the motivation and management of this scheme. Liz also explained how United Way distribute the funds. A truly remarkable achievement and I learnt a lot from Liz.
Richard
I spent the morning at Meadowbrook Musial Arts Centre – a 6,500 capacity independent live music venue. I started with the HR Manager, Bridget, who told me the history of the company and gave me the grand tour. I enjoyed learning about how Meadowbrook had overcome the many challenges of growth. I then had a great meeting the Marketing Manager, Chris. The key learning was of all the different measures Chris has in place to monitor the effectiveness of all their different marketing activities. I was blown away by a piece of social media marketing software called JitterJam that they use. Having looked into it further I’m in the process of arranging a meeting with JitterJam to learn more about it as it could be a great tool for Maybo. I also met with the Operations Manager Bill who told me all about their impressive ticketing system and with their Head of Corporate Sponsorship, Emma, who explained the strategies she uses to grow this important source of revenue for the business.
On Wednesday I spent the afternoon at the head office of a not-for-profit dental insurance firm called Northeast Delta Dental. This was a brilliant experience – they are an extremely successful company that has grown drastically in the past 15 years. I had the privilege of meeting with the CEO Tom Raffio who was recently awarded New Hampshire ‘Business Man of the Decade’. Tom generously told me about the key contributing factors to his company’s incredible success which was enlightening and has filled my head with ideas to take back to Maybo. I also met with Dr Ken Robinson (Company Lawyer) who told me about how the company has gone about achieving being listed as one of 25 Best Small Companies to Work for in America 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008. Linda Roche (Director of Strategy Management) told me what their company strategy is and how they go about designing and formulating it. Patricia Vaillancourt (Director of Operations) told me how the company is structured and how it operates. Overall this was a fantastic afternoon and a really unique and valuable learning experience.
Abi
The vocational visit was back at Concord hospital but this time I had the opportunity to shadow the outpatient and inpatient PT’s and spend time with the pulmonary rehab team. It was a chance to observe different treatment techniques, discuss outcome measures that they use, and highlighted their emphasis on goal planning with their patients to ensure good compliancy. It was interesting to note how much control the insurance companies had over the number of treatment sessions patients could have. When I visited the cardiac and pulmonary rehab gym it was good to see that their programme was similar to the groups that run within the NHS but they seem to have a lot more money for equipment! Thank you to everyone who showed me around.
Charlotte
I visited Lakes Region Day Care Centre which is a huge space (it used to be a shoe factory). Early education is a very important aspect of day care here. The book keeper, Sue, also volunteers for a local organisation that collects donations of food, clothing, food etc and distributes them where needed. Sue is therefore a good link for families that may need support.
I spent my second day in Concord and had 3 visits: 1) I saw another child care facility that also has a strong focus on early education. It runs a variety of parenting workshops that are attended by parents as well as community organisations - this gives parents a sense of the wider community and how agencies link. 2) I visited Early Learning New Hampshire, a non-government funded umbrella organisation that can offer support to other agencies and settings and advocate for early education, policy development etc. (A similar set up to Kent Youth). 3) I spent time at a Head Start centre. This offers child care and support services to under privileged families. Home visits are part of the programme, and these visits focus on the early education of the child. I've got lots of material to read from these visits, and useful contact details.
Ruth
I was with Abi again on a visit to Lakes Region General Hospital (LRGH) where we were met by Karen who took us for a tour of the wards, including elderly care and paediatrics but because of patient confidentiality we were not able to see Oncology and ER (the Emergency Room).
We then went to the Medical Centre where our drivers decided to miss out on the next vocational visit. Abi and I were given a tour round rehab by Joyce. The best part, for me, was sitting in on Dr Tom’s orthopaedic consultations. He had a very good rapport with the two patients that he saw and seemed to have an holistic approach to their condition and their needs, discussing their future options to maintain or improve their health. An interesting morning but I think Abi needs vocational sessions without me tagging along and I need to see and discuss more nursing than therapy.
Back to Concord Hospital again where I was due to visit Hospice Home. When we arrived, Christina Ebbs said she had not been able to arrange the visit and that I would see the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) then me a Nurse Practitioner (NP). My heart sank a bit as ICU is not my forte but actually it was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. The ICU is a new unit and the clinical managers had had a lot of input into the room lay outs, equipment and furniture. The room designs were well thought out and the equipment was first class.
I was then introduced to Brent Richard, an ICU Nurse Practitioner who was really inspiring. He had returned to nursing after viewing the care given in a London Hospital which encouraged him to develop his clinical skills when he returned back home to the States. As well as being part of the ICU Team he had helped establish a palliative care team for the patients who had been through the system several times and whose health was gradually failing. A good vocational day.
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