Proposed rule and quality: What your rehab team should know
By
Renee Kinder
Jun 17, 2021
The future of quality-driven care is coming. Is your therapy team ready? Reviews of the FY 2022 SNF PPS Proposed Rule often highlight key areas related to data trending, lack of budget neutrality and forthcoming...
An effective approach to addressing sexual harassment
By
David Barmak Esq., and Betty Frandsen, MHA, NHA, RN
Jun 16, 2021
In 1986, the Supreme Court held that workplace harassment constitutes sex discrimination and is unlawful under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1991, the Supreme Court nomination hearings for Clarence...
A silver lining to vaccine hesitancy
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 10, 2021
One of many puzzling memories from my childhood is witnessing my father’s failed attempt late one dark Canadian night to convince an unwilling horse to walk up a rickety ramp into the back of our pickup...
Building staff confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines
By
Rachel Shearer
Jun 09, 2021
Six months after the COVID-19 vaccines first became available, just 55% of the CNAs, nurses and therapists who work at our 50-bed skilled nursing facility have chosen to get vaccinated. It’s a challenge,...
Time for government – not nursing homes – to shoulder collective COVID-19 blame
By
Brendan Williams
Jun 07, 2021
In his 1964 State of the Union Address, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared that “[e]very American community will benefit from the construction or modernization of schools and libraries and hospitals...
The truth in the stars
By
Jessica Curtis
Jun 07, 2021
Can a one-star skilled nursing facility be the same as a five-star facility? It depends on your zip code. When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services assigns the health inspection...
Biden Medicare regulations favor hospitals over skilled nursing facilities
By
Lisa Grabert
Jun 02, 2021
On an annual basis, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services updates various payment systems within the Traditional (fee-for-service) Medicare program. This regulatory season is more entertaining than...
The art of correction
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jun 01, 2021
I remember the first time I made lemon curd. As it thickened, I asked a friend to taste it. Her reply, “Girl, that is so sour it’d make a pig squeal!” First of all, why would you give a pig...
I’ve just seen a face
By
Gary Tetz
May 27, 2021
I don’t want to put a hex on the situation with a premature celebration, but the downward trajectory of the pandemic makes it appear that long-term care people can finally perhaps maybe start discretely...
Need some new elastic?
By
Julie Thorson
May 26, 2021
In September of 2020, I submitted this blog in my Living Leadership column. If you would have told me then that in 10 months I would feel like I do today, I would have said there is no possible way!...