It’s notoriously difficult, not to mention foolish, to try to predict the future of long-term care in America. In all of our nation’s recorded history, only one man can lay claim to true prescience...
Things I Think: Playing favorites
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 18, 2019
Over the years, I’ve had my favorite senior care residents. Many of them. Anyone who works in this profession probably has some too. I’m particularly drawn to those who are funny, optimistic,...
Clean it up, throw it out
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 06, 2015
Whenever I pass one of those cinderblock mini-storage places with double-loaded rows of strictly functional corridors, I think the same thing: “That looks like some nursing homes I’ve been...
Sleepy? Have a waffle
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 01, 2013
My initial plan was to get up early to write this column. Refreshed and invigorated by a good night’s sleep, I would leap out of bed with synapses alert and firing, and my inspired mind would cut...
Care like the tire man
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 02, 2012
It wasn’t the worst start I’ve ever had, but it wasn’t good. My wife woke up sick and my dog woke up whining, or maybe it was the other way around. It’s all such a blur.
Lose the bad attitude
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 01, 2012
If blatant displays of disinterested hostility were an Olympic event, I know a nurse who would have taken the gold — and maybe the silver and bronze as well.
Things I Think: The lessons of autumn
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 05, 2019
Autumn is a time of change. That probably seems trite and obvious, and certainly it’s a trait shared by all the seasons, at least where I live in the Pacific Northwest. But the transitions of fall always...
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....
Heroes of another war
By
Gary Tetz
May 01, 2020
Ed was only 16 years old, but when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he rushed to his local Navy recruiting office to enlist, only to be told he was too young to serve in the military.
You’re fired! Welcome to the team
By
Gary Tetz
May 09, 2012
The holy grail of long-term care hiring would have to be the ability to divine in advance who will end up becoming a personnel liability and workplace nightmare. Most providers try to do that with a combination...