Requiring the jab or not – Mandatory employee vaccination policies and residential healthcare facilities
By
Heather R. Boshak
Nicole D. Espin
Aug 16, 2021
To vax or not to vax, that is the question. Or more precisely, if you’re an employer, to mandate employee vaccination or not. In a time when discussions of vaccinations are polarized, politicized and...
Compassion fatigue – the struggle is real
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jul 27, 2021
Not getting a vaccine isn’t just affecting you. It’s why we have this variant, and it’s why we all have to keep dealing with this. And it’s why nurses are burning out and getting compassion...
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...
Vaccine mandates are legal, but not without their own risks
By
Norris Cunningham
Angela Rinehart
Apr 19, 2021
With the federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program now complete, responsibility for COVID-19 vaccinations of new residents and staff has shifted to the long-term care facilities themselves. ...
How COVID-19 unmasked ageism
By
Joel Landau
Jan 25, 2021
For every occasion, even a pandemic, there appears to be a hashtag. One used to describe the coronavirus was particularly vile, particularly cruel: #BoomerRemover. There is, tragically, some truth to it,...
Taking control back
By
Matt Salmon
Oct 19, 2021
I think it’s important that we recognize the impact COVID has had on our staff — and in some cases, recognize the damage it has done. Our staff are experiencing dissatisfaction and disconnection at...
Where did person-directed care go?
By
Penny Cook
Mar 15, 2021
As we mark the one-year anniversary of life-altering changes brought about by COVID-19, I think about those aspects of life that left me, and those that have arrived. What has left me? Air travel,...
The CNAs are coming: Are you ready?
By
Lori Porter
Apr 07, 2021
It is doubtful that the framers of the constitution, when they drafted the First Amendment, had any idea that ensuring the “right of people to peaceably assemble” would include a virtual Zoom meeting...
Must we let COVID waltz in the front door?
By
Brendan Williams
Jan 14, 2022
My son is a freshman at a public university in the state of Washington that made the abrupt decision, late afternoon on the last day one could withdraw and receive a tuition refund, to go to online instruction...
Vaccine conspiracy theories abound
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jan 26, 2021
OK, so I am majorly stepping up on my soapbox with this one. I refuse to let the anti-vaxxers win. Not when we have a chance to deny this deadly COVID-19 virus hosts. But, yeah, I am trying to understand...