While walking reluctantly into our place of long-term care employment yesterday, a colleague and I started talking sarcastically about how delighted we were to be alive and at work. We didn’t mean a...
Stronger at the broken places
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 19, 2021
Well, here we go again. Within long-term care especially, the shock and discouragement of the delta variant and the havoc it’s wreaking on those we care for and work beside is pervasive and demoralizing. ...
When good men say nothing
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 05, 2021
Though Genesis HealthCare is making vaccinations for long-term care workers mandatory, I’m not so foolish as to reveal my own true feelings about the requirement. I fear the warring ghosts of liberty...
Everything matters
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 22, 2021
I’m a slow and resistant student in the classroom of life. And perhaps the truth I face most reluctantly is how unwelcome and painful challenges teach lessons that I probably wouldn’t learn any other...
Drug diversion, a series: How to prevent and spot it
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Jul 19, 2021
Drug diversion occurs when prescription medicines are obtained or used illegally. While diversion has always been a concern, without question, COVID-19 certainly increased personal stress and pressure...
After the train
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 08, 2021
There’s a hopeful phrase we started hearing a lot from long-term care leaders, residents and staff when the vaccines first arrived—“a light at the end of the tunnel.” Invariably some wise-guy or...
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...
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...
No bad ideas, right?
By
Gary Tetz
May 13, 2021
Now that the pandemic is easing, one of my best ideas is probably never going to get the chance it deserves. It involves using the power of natural law to make sure an unvaccinated long-term care resident...
Self-compassion training without apology
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 29, 2021
Self-compassion isn’t something I do very well. That’s probably because I was born in Canada, and when the doctor slapped my wrinkled baby butt, I said, “Sorry!” instead of crying. While...