At the end of a long shift on Christmas Eve, two CNAs are chatting in the facility parking lot. “Rough day,” says one. “A family member yelled at me about problems I can’t solve and things that...
On Prancer, on Crasher …
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 22, 2022
At this festive time of year, it’s all-too-easy to be charmed and delighted by visions of reindeer leaping from rooftops and scampering across the sky. But before we let such images cloud our judgment,...
Let there not be light
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 17, 2022
It’s the first command in the Biblical creation story — let there be light. But if you’re working a night shift in a long-term care facility, I need you to stop reading this right now and go turn...
Things I Think: Save enough to get back home
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 07, 2022
I wanted so badly to keep going, to devote everything I had to my mission that day, and I felt like a complete failure when I turned around.
Up from the ashes
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 08, 2022
With the president of AHCA predicting a difficult 2023, it confirmed just how tough a slog the road back from the darkest days of the pandemic will likely continue to be for long-term care. But if we’re...
The killer hiding on the porch
By
Gary Tetz
May 19, 2022
I’m not easily surprised these days, because…everything. But I just stumbled across an astonishing bit of data.
In a death-phobic nation, long-term care embraces the ultimate privilege
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 21, 2022
Some in long-term care wake up thinking of pay cuts, business survival or reform. Me? I awoke this morning thinking about cremation.
Whatever you’re doing to fight long-term care stress, stop it
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 07, 2022
With another possible COVID-19 wave on the way, and the Biden brain trust still eager to “wallop” the profession, long-term care people have plenty of reasons to continue aggressively seeking stress...
The pain of being human
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 13, 2022
With COVID-19 variants still punching long-term care staff in the face every day, it’s understandable for us to sometimes lose the ability to get our arms around the sheer scope of collective sadness...
One incontestable pandemic truth
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 02, 2021
Though I strongly support the concept of gratefulness, I’m not much for delivering public speeches about it, even to close friends or family around the Thanksgiving table. Truth be told, I generally...