This month’s column invokes several previous columns, one about medications and the other about knowing if we know what we don’t know. A recent medical journal article concluded that falls in...
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....
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...
More residents with opioid use disorder are coming. Are we ready?
By
Dina Besirevic
Aug 23, 2023
The 55-year-old female resident with multiple wounds on both of her arms wasn’t this nurse’s favorite. Yes, the nurse had provided wound care over the years to many people who were irritable...
Listening is a vital responsibility, dangerously deficient in too many caregivers
By
Martie Moore
Jun 29, 2023
The fifth time I told my story of why I was here, I wondered if I needed to change it to make it more interesting. Except I was in the emergency department and needed to be seen by someone. Next...
Why worry about wound care?
By
Jenny Bender
Jun 09, 2023
One of the basic concepts in infectious disease epidemiology is the “chain of infection” – in order for any organism to persist in the environment and cause infections, all links of the chain must...
A new perspective on wound care in LTC
By
David Navazio
Apr 18, 2023
True, residents in long-term facilities do get wounds — even though we all work very hard to make sure they don’t — but we’d rather not talk about the subject.
The gift of many hands
By
Martie Moore
Apr 07, 2023
I first was introduced to the blessing of hands as a young nurse working in a faith-based hospital. I was fresh out of college and eager to be a “real Nurse.”
Can’t buy much on Grandma’s allowance
By
Kimberly Marselas
Mar 15, 2023
Knowing the incredibly tight dollar amounts that institutionalized Medicaid beneficiaries live by, I have a new perspective on my grandma’s desire to make little luxuries last.