Tomorrow’s nursing homes must integrate palliative care
Jan 09, 2015
Palliative care, a form of patient-centered care focused on quality of life for the seriously ill, should be the standard of practice for all elderly patients with complex illness in nursing homes.
Short-handed or short-sighted?
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Feb 15, 2017
When we communicate that we are having staffing issues, whether or not that communication is correct, we are telling the residents and their families that we can’t do our jobs.
The unintended impact of Obamacare on SNFs
By
Eduardo Gonzalez
Dec 11, 2013
The Affordable Care Act, commonly known as, “ObamaCare,” is well understood to be in place primarily to assist Americans in need of healthcare insurance. It might be safe to assume then, that...
Ahhh, it’s summer… (Run for your life!)
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jun 10, 2014
The birds are singing, everything is green, people are planning vacations and you are shaking in your boots. Because you know, unlike the rest of the world, that with your job, you’re gonna have...
What’s all this about PBJ?
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Aug 30, 2016
Why are they keeping track of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? I appreciate their concern that residents might have our lunches served late, but what about the tuna fish sandwiches? And the chicken?...
How nursing homes are filling the gap in continuity of post-acute care
By
Mohammad Fattal, M.D.
Nov 11, 2016
Dispelling a myth, changing a perception and instigating a cultural transformation is a heavy lift and takes a lot of time. But all of those things are taking place in nursing homes across the country,...
When understaffing becomes rationing
By
Lance Youles
Apr 22, 2016
No factor has a greater impact on the quality of a nursing home resident’s care and life than staffing levels, whether their outcomes are measured by moments in time (i.e., incidents & condition...
Do the new QMs have you seeing stars?
By
Steven Littlehale
Mar 18, 2016
Actions providers take now will make or break their Five-Star Quality Rating experience in July. That’s because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has changed quality measures in a way...
Identifying, selecting and installing EHR systems
Mar 10, 2014
The successful deployment of an EHR is too hard and too important to be “part” of someone’s job. An organization must make the commitment to having full-time staff leading the implementation...
Tips to help staff increase familiarity with LTC regulations
By
Nora Wellington
Mar 20, 2017
CMS’ views about the unfamiliarity of existing and proposed requirements by hard working professionals and family caregivers, and the fact that they are troubled by it, is a point well taken