It’s time to look back and share the most-read column offerings of the year. Once again, stellar writing from award-winning staff members and regular contributors, along with insight from guest writers, have treated McKnight’s readers to a plethora of thought leadership.
COVID-19, and related vaccination trials and tribulations, not surprisingly, took center stage often in 2021. But other vital topics also shared the spotlight, as readers found out.
Here are the best from mcknights.com in 2021.
By Editorial Director John O’Connor:
Vaccine deniers reveal a troubling reality
Amid the media’s sea of vaccine coverage, O’Connor’s commentary stands out as incredibly insightful and prescient, having first appeared Feb. 1. There’s something for everybody here, and it remains fully valid today.
By Executive Editor James M. Berklan:
Bunk, hooey and other nonsense about vaccine mandates
Berklan’s title pulls from comments and perspective gained from a discussion with a clinical expert in vaccinations. Predictions made here have since played out.
By Senior Editor Kimberly Marselas
It’s going to take more than money to get employees to stay in long-term care, Kimberly Marselas reminds. She digs much further into this core issue that is a must-read for long-term care employers.
The gig economy finally catches up with long-term care
Top ‘The Real Nurse Jackie’ column:
Vaccine conspiracy theories abound
Where was reader appetite in 2021? After a while, some commentary about vaccinations received a figurative shrug. But not this January column from one-time national nursing director of the year Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC. It remains near the very top of the most popular mcknights.com blog posts of the year.
Read more “The Real Nurse Jackie” posts here.
Top ‘The World According to Dr. El’ column:
How to keep working in LTC (when you’re not sure how much more you can take)
The best writers read their audience’s mind and then write about what will resonate most. This nine-tip column from psychologist Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D., does just that, and more.
Read more from “The World According to Dr. El” here.
Top ‘Rehab Realities’ column:
Therapists, take note! FY 2022 changes in PDPM ICD-10
Therapy exec and blogger Renee Kinder’s columns always deliver a healthy dose of vital technical knowledge, along with a full dose of personality. Readers flocked to this one.
More “Rehab Realities” columns can be found here.
Top ‘Living Leadership’ column:
Meatloaf as the solution to vaccines
Provider CEO and award-winning leadership specialist Julie Thorson draws an irresistible connection between a popular dinner entree and a dominant topic in a new way to deliver helpful advice and observations for long-term care leaders.
Find other “Living Leadership” columns here.
Top ‘Things I Think’ column:
Blogger Gary Tetz works for a top provider company that offers various long-term care services around the country. His applicability of his writing reaches just as far, especially in this pertinent piece on the pandemic’s winding path.
Find more “Things I Think” posts by clicking here.
Top Guest Columns:
Ethical principles: Respect for those we serve
Professor Mary Eleanor Wickersham delivers vital ethical lessons for those who work in long-term care — from a person who’s been on both sides of the relationship.
‘The most powerful leader of the free world has Alzheimer’s disease’
A gerontological clinical nurse specialist by training, Steven Littlehale recalls the moment he first thought former president Ronald Reagan might have Alzheimer’s disease. In an exquisite, pensive piece, Littlehale wonders “if the same debate, stoked by emotions and our culture’s pervasive ageism, poses challenges for how we address cognitive impairment in our work.”
More Guest Columns can be found here.
Top Marketplace Experts Column:
How COVID-19 is shaping the future of skilled nursing facility design
Currently the COO of skilled nursing giant Genesis HealthCare, Melissa Powell authored a popular mid-year column about how future senior care communities will and should evolve.
Using remote patient monitoring to improve resident health, staff satisfaction in LTC
A wave of remote patient monitoring applications is already underway. Jamison Feramisco fascinated readers by examining the nuances of what RPM is and how it can help improve caregiving processes.
You, too, can be a part of the story!
McKnight’s accepts guest blog submissions continually throughout the year. You can see samples of actual guest blogs and submission guidelines for contributed pieces at this page.
Subscribe to our free newsletters in a box on the right side of mcknights.com at any time, and join us on social media channels, to share your stories next year.
