What did you say when you found out your director of nursing had quit? Or that a new COVID-19 variant was knocking at your facility door? Or when CMS announced that survey citations will appear on Care...
Long-term care in the land of ‘Sorry’
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 23, 2018
People often ask me what long-term care is like in Canada.* Trying to keep the peace, I usually answer, “Different.” I choose this passive path because a) I’m Canadian, so it’s...
Time to end this handshake insanity
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 16, 2020
To shake someone’s hand is to say, “I don’t know much about you, but I choose to embrace every bad hygienic choice you’ve made today.”
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...
Jumper cables and stethoscopes
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 14, 2016
After posing questions ever since the bitter childhood discovery that I would never be an astronaut or Bobby Orr, I finally got my answer this week. Why do I exist? To be the guy with jumper cables.
Things I Think: Out of control, loving it
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 08, 2018
Pretty much any sense of personal control — in your schedule, to-do list or even life sometimes. That’s what you’ll have to give up to be a great, and happy, long-term care facility administrator....
Surviving the night shift
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 06, 2016
In a new study highlighted by McKnight’s, more than 60% of night shift workers reported “poor sleep quality, insomnia and impaired sleep-related activities of daily living.” Reading those...
Things I think: Surviving the treadmill
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 08, 2018
Exercise can be hazardous to your health. Like antipsychotics, its pursuit should include a black box warning that atypical, or even typical, fitness attempts carry increased risk of injury and embarrassment....
Hand wringing about hand washing
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 12, 2013
Now that we know many nursing homes don’t meet hand-washing guidelines, let the hand-wringing begin. Hopefully with a generous squirt of anti-microbial sanitizer in the palm first.
Over the falls
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 10, 2015
Here’s how yesterday felt in my endless pursuit of long-term care-related service and perfection. As challenges multiplied, I’m pretty sure I was strapped inside an old wooden pickle barrel,...