Question, blame, repeat: The all-too predictable COVID cycle
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 08, 2022
Will there be six more weeks of hand-wringing when it comes to placing political blame for early COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes? It’s all part of the COVID cycle.
Maintaining your COVID-19 library of materials
By
Jacquelyn Smith Clarke
Feb 07, 2022
As the pandemic progresses, we have become used to the constant upending of what we thought we once knew. From PPE guidance to testing and vaccines, the amount of information and how quickly it changes...
Lessons from COVID-19: Issue clear guidance that reflects person-centered care principles
By
Victoria Walker, MD, CMD
Tonya Roberts, PhD, RN
Theresa Schmidt
Feb 04, 2022
As I made my own plans during the past two holiday seasons, I often reflected on how especially difficult it must be for residents living in long-term care communities and their families to celebrate separately...
No more mandate extensions. Let’s roll.
By
Kimberly Marselas
Feb 02, 2022
What is the end game in asking for another mandate extensions? Delay, deny and deflect methods won’t protect vulnerable populations, nor maintain workforce.
U.S. gives green light to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine
By
Alicia Lasek
Feb 01, 2022
“Spikevax” is the second COVID-19 mRNA vaccine to receive full FDA approval, following Pfizer-BioNTech’s Comirnaty in September.
Begin what? I begin.
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 27, 2022
As I sit here at 2 a.m. eating a big bowl of unnecessary cereal, driven from bed by work-related stress and the need to speedily write a column for a distinguished publication named McKnight’s, it doesn’t...
State to test nursing home residents for antibodies, weigh need for 4th vax
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 24, 2022
The state of Maryland will test nursing home residents for COVID-19 antibodies in a proactive effort to determine whether or not they should be offered a fourth vaccine dose, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced...
COVID-19 rapid test makers struggling to meet demand
Jan 21, 2022
However, government’s order for the free test kits is in addition to existing supply and does not interfere with existing orders
HHS enforces early COVID-19 infection control penalties despite ambiguities
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Jan 21, 2022
Infection control penalties upheld against the facility with the first known COVID-19 outbreak reinforce need for implementation – not just policy.
The failures of nursing homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19
By
Stuart H. Shapiro, M.D.
Jan 19, 2022
As the now-retired CEO of the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, I’ve sadly watched too many residents and staff die unnecessarily of COVID-19. Unfortunately, we are already in the fourth wave,...