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...
The country line dance of pain management: One step forward, two steps back
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 05, 2021
“Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is.” “We just hope that you don’t say it. Oh, and we’ll likely not hear you anyway.” We credit Mary Margo McCaffery, MS, RN-BC, FAAN, a pioneer...
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...
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.
Questions to ponder as herd immunity remains out of reach
By
Steven Fuller, Ph.D., DO
Feb 08, 2021
Experts estimate that herd immunity for COVID-19 will be reached when 75–85% of the U.S. population has received the COVID-19 vaccine. But long-term care — including nursing homes and assisted...
COVID-19 underscores PDPM advantages
By
Bent Philipson
Jan 27, 2021
The efficacy of the Patient-Driven Payment Model has never been clearer than now, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. PDPM enabled skilled nursing facilities to see a 9% increase in Medicare reimbursement...
I never wanted to run a marathon
By
Martie Moore
Jan 16, 2021
Identifying human need is a critical concept for leaders to consider when thinking of strategies that can be deployed to stabilize and then grow a healthy workplace environment.
It’s time for full transparency
By
Michael Wasserman
Jan 13, 2021
I threw down the gauntlet for the nursing home industry to focus on clinical care two years ago. I warned that in the spring of 2020, providers would “start to hurt because the cost of caring...
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...
The devilish details of vaccine distribution
By
Tina Sadarangani, Ph.D., R.N.
Daniel David, Ph.D., R.N
Jasmine Travers, Ph.D., R.N.,
Dec 17, 2020
The development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine has always been a matter of “when” not “if.” Significant advances in vaccine development, a coordinated global response...