Extra sleep reduces healthcare workers’ COVID risk; burnout has opposite effect
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 24, 2021
One hour longer sleep duration at night is linked to 12% lower odds of contracting COVID-19. And workers who report feeling burned out every day are more likely to become infected and have longer symptom...
Past trauma tied to worse mental health during pandemic for aging women
Sep 24, 2021
History of childhood abuse or intimate partner violence linked to greater depression, anxiety, and sleep problems during COVID-19 pandemic
A new anti-bullying campaign?
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Aug 02, 2022
You see them everywhere. Anti-bullying campaigns. People are bullied for just about anything. For looking different, for different beliefs, for sexual orientations, for race, creed, color, religion, etc. ...
COVID test turnaround time tops 2 days for a third of nursing homes, data show
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 13, 2020
Among 13,000 facilities that provided their testing speed to the government, only 17% reported an average turnaround time of less than a day; and fully 29% waited three days or more on average for residents’...
59.5 percent of adult ED visits are for patients with chronic conditions tied to COVID risk
Sep 02, 2022
Patients with chronic conditions tied to a high risk of severe COVID-19 account for nearly 60% of ED visits, investigators say.
CDC may be overestimating COVID-19 vaccination stats for older adults, state officials and experts say
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 13, 2021
The agency’s online tracker currently shows that 99.9% of U.S. seniors have been at least partly vaccinated against COVID-19. But this sky-high figure is almost certainly not accurate, observers...
The punitive fist versus the hand of support
By
Buffy Lloyd-Krejci, DrPH, CIC
May 03, 2023
In the late 2010s, the long-term care industry began to take action that would reflect the growing importance of incorporating robust infection prevention practices. Facilities were required to develop...
Study highlights nurses’ sleep challenges during pandemic
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 28, 2022
Nurses have lost a lot of sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic, and their sleep problems are closely tied to mental health issues that can affect well-being, a new investigation finds.
The tragedy of COVID-19 spousal separations
By
David Barmak, J.D.
Nov 25, 2020
Marriage vows are hard to honor when you are prohibited from being with a spouse who is dying alone in a nursing home, a victim of COVID-19. Two family friends, married for well over 50 years, endured...
Updated: 22 states petition CMS to repeal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers
By
Lois A. Bowers
Nov 17, 2022
A coalition of 22 states led by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R), today formally called on the Biden administration to withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for nursing home and other healthcare...