I threw down the gauntlet for the nursing home industry to focus on clinical care two years ago. I warned that in the spring of 2020, providers would “start to hurt because the cost of caring...
Skilled care, mental health focus needed to decrease hospitalizations
By
Gayle Morris
Jan 11, 2021
Preventing hospitalizations is as much a sign of good health in older adults as it is a way to maintain it. The burden of infection control, preventing skin breakdown, pneumonia — and the myriad other...
Why some are resisting vaccination, and how we can help
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 10, 2021
The woeful percentages of long-term care employees willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination are going to improve. But only with time and ramped up communication efforts.
A beautiful thing to celebrate
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 07, 2021
This is a good time to focus on something undeniably positive that’s happening in our own profession.
Dogs may help save caregivers from COVID-19 exhaustion
By
Mike Powell
Jan 05, 2021
Caregiving is an admirable job, and during COVID-19 it’s been even more important. But caregivers are prone to burnout. Did you know dogs can help? Although nursing home and senior care residents...
The Equalizer: A holiday story from the ‘Before’ time
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 29, 2020
She told me about her life via handwritten notes and the occasional use of a talking computer that verbalized what she painstakingly typed out. “I’ve been a cripple ever since I got polio as a...
The worst year ever?
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Dec 22, 2020
Was 2020 really “the worst year ever”? Let’s take a closer look. It might open your eyes.
Just a box
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 18, 2020
It’s just a box. Not that different from the one that will probably show up on your doorstep or mine today, maybe stuffed with holiday gifts or toilet paper. So why am I feeling a little choked up standing...
The devilish details of vaccine distribution
By
Tina Sadarangani, Ph.D., R.N.
Daniel David, Ph.D., R.N
Jasmine Travers, Ph.D., R.N.,
Dec 17, 2020
The development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine has always been a matter of “when” not “if.” Significant advances in vaccine development, a coordinated global response...
Managing a bah humbug holiday season
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Dec 15, 2020
By now many of us have viewed the viral video of residents gleefully shooting soft foam balls at laughing staff members dressed as reindeer dodging through a pine-tree “forest.” It’s the kind...