My first college roommates got me hooked on “Days of Our Lives” freshman year, creating a long-running viewing habit that would become the butt of many a joke in my family.
If anyone were to catch me watching an episode while home on break, I was guaranteed a snide comment about the show’s insanely slow plot development (nevermind the insanity of the storylines themselves).
Was Marlena still possessed or was she possessed again? How long has she been kidnapped this time? This may sound weird for a show that was supposed to be about romance, but if you know, you know.
“Days” truly could have been named “Years of our Lives,” given all the twists and turns — not to mention those intentional Friday cliffhangers those writers put you through before anything ever got resolved.
In some ways, it’s a lot like that with certain long-term care plot lines. Leave for a week and that CMS rule we’re all waiting for — well, we’re still waiting for it! Go on sabbatical for a year — workforce will still be providers’ most significant stressor and Congress will have yet to do anything about it!
But aside from the pay rule vigil, my most recent vacation hit a little differently.
Sadly, there were some unimaginable plot lines while I was away last week, bookended by an assassination attempt committed by a nursing home worker and a deadly mass shooting at a Croatian nursing home.
And as I was sifting through my email box in preparation for Monday’s return to the office, President Joe Biden’s announcement dropped that he was ending his campaign for re-election.
I can’t think of many other times when the news cycle has felt so compressed, with so many major and compelling story lines vying for attention. Following a momentous end to the Supreme Court session and heading into the dog days of this election season — which might just bring a change of party to the White House — it may feel like the sector is facing potential upheaval.
As always, we’re trying to make sense of what it will all mean for you on the frontlines, in the back offices and at the corporate digs. But, deep down, it might just feel like you’ll be facing more of the same, no matter what.
Because rules come and go, political priorities change, but at the end of the day, providers just want to have what they need to do their jobs well. It’s not the kind of sexy, made-for-headline news we’ve seen of late when providers clamor for clarity, education and support — or when they show their ability to adapt to new systems and payment models on a semi-regular basis.
I’d say you’re probably not looking for the really slow, drawn-out burn of “Days of Our Lives”-level drama. But there’s another favorite from my youth whose title and pacing might be better for this crowd: With each passing day, every new strategy tested and any successful outcome achieved, you’re writing The NeverEnding Story of long-term care. That’s quite a tale in itself.
Kimberly Marselas is senior editor of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
Opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News columns are not necessarily those of McKnight’s.
