Manufacturing solutions to skilled nursing’s pandemic problems
By
Dean Moore
Mar 24, 2021
I have been in the workplace a long time. To quote Steve Martin, “If I had saved better, I would not be here.” Over the past year, the long-term care industry has faced monumental challenges related...
Another COVID-19 symptom: Dueling liability decisions
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Feb 19, 2021
If you thought you had a clear read on how courts would interpret federal COVID-19 liability protections, think again. After a set back last fall, there appears to be some good news for providers after...
Social media: Good vs. Evil?
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Feb 09, 2021
With all the nastiness that has been in social media, wouldn’t it be cool to see that social media can also have a good side? Good news: We can.
Five-Star surveys: Changed forever?
By
Spencer Blackman
Feb 08, 2021
When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unlocked survey ratings for the first time since April, we analysts dove into the numbers expecting big changes. But as an earlier McKnight’s article...
When the rules change, not everyone wins: Counting IC deficiencies in Five-Star
By
Steven Littlehale
Feb 05, 2021
Do you remember how, as you were growing up, there was always another kid who would change the rules mid-game to ensure that he won? I do, and it would always make my blood boil. The Centers for Medicare...
CNA workforce at a breaking point
By
Lori Porter
Jan 29, 2021
COVID-19 is now responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 residents and staff in the 15,000 nursing homes in this country. I’ve been in this field 40 years —as a certified nursing assistant,...
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...
Nursing Home Quality Incentive Program? Hardly
By
Brendan Williams
Dec 08, 2020
Was any federal program ever more misnamed than the “Nursing Home Quality Incentive Program”? Rather than reward nursing home quality, it has effectively rewarded states that have out-of-control COVID-19...
The power of a phone call
By
Mark Rennella
Laura Steuer
Oct 27, 2020
What do your residents already have and know how to use that can help them feel less lonely? The telephone. Beyond the push for you to invest in costly and time-consuming technology (Zoom? iPads?) is a...
Can’t touch this or just so gross
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Sep 29, 2020
I am working on putting together a bunch of infection and prevention presentations and it got me thinking of all the stuff we touch in a day, as a nurse. It’s, well, remarkable.