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. ...
Lawmakers must address nursing home workforce crisis to ensure quality care
By
George Linial
Mar 08, 2021
Before COVID-19, Texas nursing homes reported the worst staffing shortages in the nation. Texas projected we will be 60,000 nurses short by 2030, and that demand in nursing homes would double between 2015...
Every breath you take
By
Gary Tetz
May 05, 2022
As pandemic testing becomes more sophisticated, a creepy song from the ’80s takes on new and ominous relevance. “Every breath you take I’ll be watching you,” warned The Police, and now that an...
The exhaustion epidemic
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Feb 08, 2022
I was tempted to listen to the STAT News event, “The exhaustion epidemic: Examining the COVID-19 burnout crisis in health care,” while lying prone on the couch. Instead, I took notes and considered...
Pinpointing LTC enforcement trends as COVID-19 continues
By
Lauren F. Schoeberl
Apr 05, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has left an indelible mark on long-term care and skilled-nursing facilities. As COVID-19 cases continue to fall, regulatory and criminal enforcement agencies are now digesting...
Back to before census
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 10, 2021
One of my favorite lyrics from the musical “Ragtime” is “We can never go back to before.” The character Mother sings about no longer being a slave to societal expectations; she is confident, moving...
Maintaining your COVID-19 library of materials
By
Jacquelyn Smith Clarke
Feb 07, 2022
As the pandemic progresses, we have become used to the constant upending of what we thought we once knew. From PPE guidance to testing and vaccines, the amount of information and how quickly it changes...
Is the doctor in? Improve nursing homes with one easy stroke
By
Kenneth Lehmann
Apr 14, 2021
Many nursing home COVID-19 patients would have benefitted from daily, reimbursed-for physician visits in their skilled nursing facilities, but they were not entitled to them. With an epic crisis...
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...
It’s time for full transparency
By
Michael Wasserman
Jan 13, 2021
I threw down the gauntlet for the nursing home industry to focus on clinical care two years ago. I warned that in the spring of 2020, providers would “start to hurt because the cost of caring...