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...
What to do with the wanderer
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 26, 2015
My very adorable, but now elderly puppy has developed a serious problem with wandering. The last time, he was almost hit by a truck. It’s rather troubling, to say the least. But long-term care providers...
New Year, new choice
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 08, 2015
People have wondered if I was awake to welcome the New Year. I think it’s another way to find out if I’m old, like one of those trick long-term care job interview questions that would be illegal...
Microchips for nurses
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 04, 2014
My dog has a microchip embedded between his shoulder blades, and it’s really setting my mind at ease. So I think it might be time for every member of your nursing staff to get one, too.
An unwelcome warning
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 27, 2023
While plodding a narrow, precipitous path high on the flank of Mt. Rainier this week, I saw a father and his young daughter approaching on the trail. She was an adorable child of maybe 4 or 5, all decked...
Quoth the Raven
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 09, 2020
I consider it an ominous omen. Yesterday on my walk, I was attacked by a crow — three times. Or it might have been a raven. I can’t tell the difference.
An insomniac’s medicine cabinet
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 23, 2020
Wakeful, wandering, grumpy and doomed. These precious words describe our faithful, bleary-eyed columnist most nights.
If this is your sole motivation, it’s not worth it
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 10, 2019
Yikes. That’s about all I can think to say here at the start of 2019 in long-term care.
Staffing: solved
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 27, 2015
When I was a wee boy living in the Canadian wilderness, we needed to dig a well, so my dad hired a creepy-looking guy called a “water witch” to wander the property holding a forked stick out...
Curse of the blue-blockers
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 16, 2021
I’ve suffered with poor vision for most of my adult life. Sometimes at intersections, I have to actually get out of the car and feel the letter ridges on a road sign to confirm my location. So when I...