Lawmakers must address nursing home workforce crisis to ensure quality care
By
George Linial
Mar 08, 2021
Before COVID-19, Texas nursing homes reported the worst staffing shortages in the nation. Texas projected we will be 60,000 nurses short by 2030, and that demand in nursing homes would double between 2015...
Personal Care Attendants add more hands to the frontlines of long-term care
By
Deborah Franklin
Mar 01, 2021
As America’s population grows older and drives up demand for long-term care, nursing centers are continuing their decades-long struggle to fill direct care positions — the qualified caregivers who...
When access isn’t enough: Promoting COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among minority, frontline nursing...
By
Richard Feifer, M.D., MPH
LaShuan Bethea, J.D., BSN
Feb 26, 2021
Nursing home staff are working tirelessly to protect our most vulnerable population against COVID-19, but many remain wary about getting vaccinated. The issue is particularly acute among minority groups,...
The shortest distance between two points
By
Noah Marco
Feb 17, 2021
Prior to 1816, it was common practice for doctors to place their ears to patients’ chests to detect the workings of hearts, lungs and other organs. That year, French physician Rene Laennec, who was...
Five-Star surveys: Changed forever?
By
Spencer Blackman
Feb 08, 2021
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unlocked survey ratings for the first time since April, we analysts dove into the numbers expecting big changes. But as an earlier McKnight’s article...
Improve early illness recognition with two simple tools
By
Maryann R. Coletti
Shari Kist
Feb 01, 2021
Early illness recognition is central to managing resident condition change and reducing potentially avoidable hospitalizations. Every staff member, provider and family play a role in identifying when a...
How COVID-19 unmasked ageism
By
Joel Landau
Jan 25, 2021
For every occasion, even a pandemic, there appears to be a hashtag. One used to describe the coronavirus was particularly vile, particularly cruel: #BoomerRemover. There is, tragically, some truth to it,...
What 2021 has in store on the legal front
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Jan 20, 2021
Everyone has been celebrating that 2020 is over, and who can blame them? Yet, I can’t help think the legal issues facing long term care in 2020 won’t necessarily go away in 2021. Some of the lingering...
Skilled care, mental health focus needed to decrease hospitalizations
By
Gayle Morris
Jan 11, 2021
Preventing hospitalizations is as much a sign of good health in older adults as it is a way to maintain it. The burden of infection control, preventing skin breakdown, pneumonia — and the myriad other...
Why some are resisting vaccination, and how we can help
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 10, 2021
The woeful percentages of long-term care employees willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination are going to improve. But only with time and ramped up communication efforts.