My family is full of therapists, and most of us work in skilled nursing. My sister, an experienced speech language pathologist, called to commiserate about one of her patients who had difficulty swallowing. ...
Our brave new world
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Feb 07, 2023
The Public Health Emergency, initiated in 2020 and continuing to the present, established a new and complex means of getting healthcare. Because many were worried about social distancing and leaving...
Breaking news that hopefully won’t break us
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Oct 20, 2022
By now, we’ve all heard how the CDC has lowered requirements for infection control in the new world of endemic COVID-19. But here’s an abridged list anyway: Vaccination status is no longer used to...
Nursing shortages, and why ‘nobody wants to work anymore’
By
Jean Wendland Porter
May 02, 2023
Everyone has been feeling the nursing shortage, and now the Biden administration has tightened staffing rules, and that order will become a harbinger of more skilled nursing facility crises and closings....
Healthcare burnout may not be what you think
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Mar 07, 2023
The New York Times recently published an op-ed about how healthcare workers are “burned out” from multiple factors, including decreased staffing, pandemic challenges and increased regulatory oversight....
‘Plateaued’ is not a medical description
By
Jean Wendland Porter
May 28, 2024
I’m starting to sound like a broken record (vinyl is coming back; the kids know what I mean), but I recently heard a therapist say the patient’s progress plateaued, so we have to stop therapy. Again. ...
Therapy should be more than productivity
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Apr 22, 2024
“I’m too sick for therapy today.” “Come back later.” “Leave me alone.” If you’ve worked in long-term care (or hospitals or LTACHs or acute rehab hospitals), you’ve heard...
Can Medicare Advantage be redeemed?
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Feb 06, 2024
I just got back from vacation and didn’t have to think about this for a whole week. But there’s no place like home. For a whole week, I didn’t have to worry about chores, obligations, or how Medicare...
Working through dementia with design
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Nov 14, 2023
My husband and I visit New York City once or twice a year. Love the shows, love the atmosphere, love the restaurants, can’t wait to get home to my relatively bucolic environment. The last time...
AI: Living in the future
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Oct 17, 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is a rapidly growing field that has the potential to revolutionize the way medical professionals diagnose and treat patients. The use of AI algorithms and machine...