While staffing shortages have plagued the long-term care industry for quite some time, the coronavirus pandemic has certainly shone a spotlight on the issue and worsened it. At the start of...
Nursing home vaccine mandates: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
By
Kevin Lawrence
Aug 09, 2021
Many people might not fully realize what long-term care operators are facing when it comes to whether to require COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment. Here’s a breakdown in simple terms....
The Einstein option — a real staffing no-brainer
By
Michael Wasserman
Mar 13, 2024
In January, I wrote about the importance of adequate nursing home staffing levels. As a geriatrician who has worked in nursing homes for nearly 40 years, I can attest to the importance of the incredible...
CMS should be careful in what it asks for
By
Brendan Williams
Dec 23, 2022
Those in the nursing home sector are worried a potential staffing mandate imposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could be the ruination of a reeling sector. However, there is an argument...
MedPAC member: Give Congress more on nursing home staffing mandate implications
By
Kimberly Marselas
Jan 12, 2024
The likely costs of complying with a federal staffing mandate will affect nursing home margins so “massively” that a Congressional advisory board should offer alternative payment guidance for the sector,...
People management – The new paradigm
By
Joe Chesney
Aug 04, 2021
Most owner/operators see high turnover and shortage of workers as the top challenges senior healthcare providers face today, a higher priority than census, reimbursement and regulatory issues. Many...
Scary ‘state’: Two-thirds of nursing home operators fear closure without staffing relief
By
Josh Henreckson
Mar 06, 2024
The long-term care sector is still struggling to rebuild to pre-pandemic staffing levels while also bracing for negative effects of new federal regulations, according to the “State of the Sector” report...
7 employee wellness ideas for the holidays (and beyond)
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 08, 2015
After a staff training on reducing burnout in long-term care last week, a look through the evaluation forms was illuminating. A significant number of attendees — mostly nursing aides, nurses, and environmental...
Need a fresh survey strategy? CMS lays out 3
By
Kimberly Marselas
Dec 05, 2023
CMS officials have delivered an early gift to help providers like you map out where they should focus their compliance efforts — not just for 2024, but for 2025 as well.
Capping staffing agency pay rates isn’t the answer
By
Eleanor Alvarez
Jan 26, 2022
The staffing crisis in skilled nursing and assisted living centers continues to be a dire situation. As healthcare workers leave the field in record numbers, these centers have found relief by leaning...