As we mark the one-year anniversary of life-altering changes brought about by COVID-19, I think about those aspects of life that left me, and those that have arrived. What has left me? Air travel,...
2021 and writing your COVID-19 elegy
By
Renee Kinder
Mar 11, 2021
If you are an avid reader, or even if you are not, you have likely heard of “Hillbilly Elegy.” The book was written by J.D. Vance and has subsequently been turned into a movie on Netflix ripe with...
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...
Is your facility prepared for returning families?
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Mar 02, 2021
If all goes well, over the next few weeks there will be an increasing number of family members visiting their loved ones in the nursing home, many for the first time in a year. Along with the joy and relief...
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,...
A slippery slope
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 18, 2021
Should we follow “the Golden Rule” and treat others the way we would want to be treated? In a word, no.
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...
The emotional impact of pandemic secrecy
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Feb 16, 2021
As a geropsychologist and a New Yorker, I’ve been relieved to see the after-the-fact uncovering of the true number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes in New York last year.
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...