“Well, gosh. Just my luck.” I don’t know for certain that’s how the Pennsylvania nursing home housekeeper responded after being fired for using bad language at work. But regardless,...
Will music improve MDS 3.0 scores?
By
Dan Cohen, MSW
Jun 22, 2011
Using iPods to reconnect long-term care residents with their favorite music is a simple intervention with great upside potential and no side effects. They’re an inexpensive tool that can have a positive...
Making resident-centered care a priority
By
Sharon Belovarac, Jana Scavona and Steven Walkingstick
Sep 02, 2015
When Asbury Communities Inc., began its journey with Planetree it was not without a few questions. In our healthcare centers, where this culture-change journey would have its greatest presence, we wondered...
Focus on life safety during the management of COVID-19
By
Stan Szpytek
Mar 24, 2020
Note: This story was updated on May 12 to reflect new regulatory changes. As skilled nursing facilities around the nation rise to the challenges of managing this current infectious disease outbreak, providers...
Volunteering opened my eyes to the plight of our LTC system
By
Colleen McConnaha
Dec 06, 2021
Several weeks ago, I began volunteering as a care assistant at a nursing home that is part of the system my husband works for. It has been a rewarding, eye-opening, and somewhat concerning experience that...
Climate change and older adults: Lessons from Canada
By
John Muscedere
George Heckman
Sep 13, 2019
You don’t have to look far to see the effects of climate change these days. But those effects are all the more acute for vulnerable seniors, especially those living in nursing homes. The reality is that...
Nursing home vaccine mandates: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
By
Kevin Lawrence
Aug 09, 2021
Many people might not fully realize what long-term care operators are facing when it comes to whether to require COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment. Here’s a breakdown in simple terms....
‘Keep it simple’ is just not in our nature
By
Steven Littlehale
Jun 28, 2021
I asked all the leadership at New Choice Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to bring me their department-specific resident assessment tools. They were to leave them on my desk by 5 p.m. When I returned...
It’s time to be a team player and place public safety first
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Jun 18, 2021
Recent legislative activity in Ohio just highlights the public’s and the government’s fickle view of long-term care in our country.
The importance of social distancing in a post-COVID 19 world
By
Carol Winner
Jun 29, 2020
We are living in a once-in-a-lifetime period in history in which we are targeted by a virus that takes no prisoners. It wants to destroy all in its path especially the elderly and those who work in...