The MDS on Christmas vacation: ‘It’s a beaut Clark, it’s a beaut!’
By
Joel VanEaton
Nov 28, 2023
I love this time of year. Christmas is on its way. I especially love the holiday movie classics, “A Christmas Story,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “White Christmas,”...
Brave new birthday world
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 16, 2023
What do birthdays have to do with long-term care? Well, I’ve been having them long-term. And at this point, I’ve ceased to care. You probably see that statement for what it is, nothing but bitter bluster....
The hypocrisy of staffing mandates
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 19, 2023
Absorbed as you probably are in fighting through the long-term care staffing crisis while parrying a CMS mandate, I wouldn’t blame you for not noticing. But at airports across America, big planes are...
Trick or treat? MDS changes are in the bag
By
Joel VanEaton
Oct 03, 2023
When I was a kid, I loved getting dressed up for Halloween. I remember especially a clown (funny not scary) costume I got one year. I couldn’t wait to put it on and be transformed into another world....
Whose life is it anyway?
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Sep 21, 2023
My family is full of therapists, and most of us work in skilled nursing. My sister, an experienced speech language pathologist, called to commiserate about one of her patients who had difficulty swallowing. ...
Biden’s regulatory Death Star
By
Brendan Williams
Sep 11, 2023
Despite federal data showing that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to massive job losses for nursing and residential care facilities – with the workforce 218,200 workers smaller last month...
Making sense of two approaches to the skilled nursing quality assurance privilege
By
Mario C. Giannettino
Sep 01, 2023
Skilled nursing facilities are required by law to have quality assessment and assurance committees to maintain and improve safety and quality in their facilities. The documents created and used by the...