Anyone who was working in healthcare in 2020 knows it was a rough year. When the lockdown happened, my staff with young children didn’t have daycare anymore. They didn’t have school anymore. The grandparents...
The underappreciated bartenders of long-term care
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 21, 2024
Before you think poorly of me, let me explain. I was in the bar that afternoon only because I had heard such great things about the nachos. Not buying it? How about this: I was conducting an in-person...
Therapy should be more than productivity
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Apr 22, 2024
“I’m too sick for therapy today.” “Come back later.” “Leave me alone.” If you’ve worked in long-term care (or hospitals or LTACHs or acute rehab hospitals), you’ve heard...
Understanding and addressing pain: Thoughts for therapists
By
Renee Kinder
Feb 01, 2024
In my continued endeavor to win Mother of the Year, I really racked up some points this week. Isaac, my youngest son, took a nice spill last Friday while skiing. He suffered what we thought...
Feeling stressed? Use your chopsticks
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 04, 2024
We’ve long known that mindfulness programs can improve the physical and emotional well-being of nursing home residents — and the rest of us too.
This Alzheimer’s inequity has to change
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Apr 09, 2024
To say my step-mom and I were close is an understatement. She was the maid-of-honor at my wedding. We talked daily. When she had her bilateral mastectomy, I was there for her, and when I had mine, she...
Embracing end-of-life choices: A journey with Grandma
By
Steven Littlehale
Feb 02, 2024
At the beginning of the year, my grandmother found herself in an acute-care hospital, addressing blood clots in her legs and lungs. Having just recovered from COVID-19 at the age of 100, uncertainty loomed...
CPRR: A new model for change out of all that alphabet soup
By
Martie Moore
Feb 09, 2024
My parents were married for over 70 (seventy!) years. They were a force as a couple. When they would get their minds set, there was nothing I could do to change the course of their actions. My father...
Conducting and documenting meaningful fire drills in LTC facilities
By
Stan Szpytek
Apr 16, 2024
From some of our earliest memories in elementary school as little kids, we all recall participating in fire drills on a periodic basis. Of course, the purpose of those fire drills was to train students,...
Moving the needle in nursing home vaccination rates
By
Michael Wasserman
Leslie Eber
Feb 14, 2024
On February 29, 2020, the first Coronavirus nursing home outbreak was reported by the media. Experts in geriatric and long-term care medicine immediately understood the dangers to nursing home residents....