When I saw the New York Times article illuminating the clever ways devious operators could inflate their Medicare star ratings, I had mixed emotions ranging from fury to rage.
Ahhhhhhhh, there’s the rub
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 04, 2013
In all the tumult over the Time magazine expose of pervasive and obscene healthcare billing excesses, you might have missed the almost as exciting discovery that foot massages at work lower blood pressure...
Sleep like your life depends on it
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 01, 2021
One thing I’ve learned in my mostly unsuccessful lifelong quest to get enough sleep is that nothing helps more than feeling under pressure to do so. So learning in McKnight’s that extra sleep reduced...
Presidential caregivers
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 13, 2012
I won’t know what to think about polls until I find out how other Americans feel about them. Until then, put me down as undecided. But, seriously, here’s one that intrigues me, because it actually...
Stop thinking — and eat a mango
By
Gary Tetz
May 22, 2014
Everyone struggles with who they are and their purpose in life. Whatever you do — whether you’re a long-term care administrator, director of nursing, med aide or maintenance associate — you’re...
Give all your cares to Bob
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 29, 2016
So here we are at the end of 2016. It’s been kind of a brutal year — globally, nationally, personally, even as a long-term care profession. Lots of loss, much uncertainty and fear, many reasons...
Five-Star profanity
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 19, 2015
“Well, gosh. Just my luck.” I don’t know for certain that’s how the Pennsylvania nursing home housekeeper responded after being fired for using bad language at work. But regardless,...
Lord of the Rings
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 04, 2021
After mocking wearers of Apple watches not so long ago, citing an annoying interaction that took place in a nursing home lobby, I finally got one myself. I realize this makes me a hypocrite, and I’m...
The high cost of Winning!
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 11, 2016
Powerball is one of the great tests of work-based friendship in long-term care.Those 13 California nursing home nurses who came within one number of winning the whole $1.5 billion lottery are almost certainly...
My high-sodium epiphany
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 27, 2019
In long-term care, we deal with the unexpected all the time. Many of the people we serve are there because something unanticipated happened, crashing into their lives like a no-warning tsunami — or a...