After receiving a flash of unexpected insight straight from the universe, I can finally say definitively: The P in PDPM is for ’possum. And, yes, there’s a story to tell.
An insomniac’s dream
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 14, 2012
Finally, something else to lie awake worrying about. A news story last week cited a study suggesting that sleep quality should improve with age. Great. That’s all I need. More pressure.
Duct tape solves long-term care crisis
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 23, 2017
“Astonished” doesn’t even begin to cover the feeling. “Disappointed” is also woefully inadequate. To describe a recent, very public, wardrobe humiliation that occurred in...
Gideon was wrong
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 22, 2018
For every long-term care staff member who wolfs meals at your desk while multitasking on important care-related duties, this is my fervent hope and prayer: that the gruesome and disturbing story I’m...
Up in the air, and up on the ground
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 25, 2016
This isn’t just a story about the World War II veteran who got to fly again, inspiring though it most certainly was. I know, because I was there — holding a video camera, unsteadily at times, as...
Poor, poor pitiful me
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 06, 2018
When I ask rehab patients about the precipitating event that brought them to therapy, they can at least answer the question. Maybe they tripped on a zucchini vine, slipped on a grape in the grocery store...
Squirrels vs. LTC: The Final Battle
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 01, 2016
While we’ve been focused on trivialities like HHS and CMS appointments, declining U.S. dementia rates and electing an orange President, rabid squirrels are terrorizing long-term care communities...
Lost in a nursing home elevator — and lived to not talk about it
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 20, 2013
Here’s one that slipped through the cracks, and I’m beating myself up about it. How did I miss the McKnight’s story about Rosalie, the 87-year-old nursing home resident who was trapped...
3D-printed food — coming soon to a long-term care dining room near you
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 05, 2014
Those Germans. They’re even hungrier than caterpillars. After mastering the culinary artistry of Zwiebelkuchen, Schupfnudel, Maultaschen and Käsespätzle, which I’m not even going to bother...
Finding joy in the grueling now
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 06, 2020
Finding joy in the difference you make is perhaps all the inspiration any of us needs.