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Story and Photo by Jeremiah Kalb When patients visit Madison’s Behavioral Health Unit, they work with several professionals to help them return to good mental health. The most well-known professionals involved in this care include a psychiatrist, social workers, and nurses. A recreation therapist is a lesser-known professional who is equally vital to a patient’s success. Emily Johnson, a full-time certified recreation therapist, describes recreation therapy as “helping people discover their zest for living because it’s those activities that you do every day that make you who you are.” Simply put, Johnson helps patients help themselves. “But more with a purpose of mindfulness and intent,” she adds. The roots of recreation therapy first appeared during World War II when the Red Cross provided hospitalized soldiers with recreation therapy programs. Leisure, recreation, and play make up the foundation of recreation therapy. Without recreation therapy, a patient may find it challenging to...
After nearly three years of intensive efforts, culminating in an application process with a post-application survey, Madison Memorial has been awarded one of the most prestigious, hard-to-earn, coveted credentials in the healthcare industry: the Pathway to Excellence designation. On Monday, April 18, during a noteworthy phone call between Madison Memorial staff members and Dr. Nora Warshawsky, Pathway Commissioner for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Madison team was officially notified of our attainment of this long-sought goal. We are now the first (and only) Pathway-to-Excellence certified organization in the state of Idaho. The Pathway designation is a global credential, highlighting an organization’s commitment to creating a healthy work environment where nurses are empowered and valued. Madison Memorial’s nurses constitute an integral part of our team, wielding a powerful voice both in our policies and practices. Pathway nurses, including ours, are fully engaged, which yields higher job engagement, reduced...
Story by Jeremiah Kalb On a chilly evening in March, Anna Struhs loaded a bag of slip leashes and dog collars into her Honda Pilot in preparation for a two-and-a-half-hour drive to Utah. The following day, two furry animals named Misty and Queenie waited at the I-15 Exit 344 in Ogden for the next three legs of their “freedom ride,” and Struhs was their driver. In the “rescue world” where Struhs has played a part since 2019, a “freedom ride” is a magical carpet ride out of an animal shelter and eventually into the loving arms of a new owner. “They are there because some human failed them miserably, by surrendering or abandoning or dumping them,” Struhs says. Approximately 3.1 million dogs enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year. About 390,000 of those dogs are euthanized each year. For this transport, Struhs received a text asking her if there was...
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