“Mother!” “Mother, can you hear me?” “Mother, may I have a fried PB&J?” A few weeks ago, I heard these words coming from our youngest. My immediate response was almost visceral, annoyed. “Emmy,...
How to counteract the folks at 1-666-SUE-4YOU
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
May 07, 2024
So yeah, we’ve all been talking about how long-term care is political fodder. I mean, it tears me apart that no one is interested in a good story coming out of our setting. Take the AHCA/NCAL Quality...
The Universal Foundation: What therapy teams should know
By
Renee Kinder
Apr 25, 2024
The recently published “Quality in Motion: Acting on the CMS National Quality Strategy April 2024” highlights further evolution of the 2022 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Quality...
Moon landings and the MDS. What gives?
By
Joel VanEaton
Mar 19, 2024
You may be aware that on Feb. 22, Houston-based Intuitive Machines landed a spacecraft on the moon, making history as the first commercial craft to reach the lunar surface and the first U.S. spacecraft...
Falling by the wayside
By
Steven Levenson
Oct 24, 2023
This month’s column invokes several previous columns, one about medications and the other about knowing if we know what we don’t know. A recent medical journal article concluded that falls in...
The hypocrisy of staffing mandates
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 19, 2023
Absorbed as you probably are in fighting through the long-term care staffing crisis while parrying a CMS mandate, I wouldn’t blame you for not noticing. But at airports across America, big planes are...
Trick or treat? MDS changes are in the bag
By
Joel VanEaton
Oct 03, 2023
When I was a kid, I loved getting dressed up for Halloween. I remember especially a clown (funny not scary) costume I got one year. I couldn’t wait to put it on and be transformed into another world....
Making sense of two approaches to the skilled nursing quality assurance privilege
By
Mario C. Giannettino
Sep 01, 2023
Skilled nursing facilities are required by law to have quality assessment and assurance committees to maintain and improve safety and quality in their facilities. The documents created and used by the...
More residents with opioid use disorder are coming. Are we ready?
By
Dina Besirevic
Aug 23, 2023
The 55-year-old female resident with multiple wounds on both of her arms wasn’t this nurse’s favorite. Yes, the nurse had provided wound care over the years to many people who were irritable...
Listening is a vital responsibility, dangerously deficient in too many caregivers
By
Martie Moore
Jun 29, 2023
The fifth time I told my story of why I was here, I wondered if I needed to change it to make it more interesting. Except I was in the emergency department and needed to be seen by someone. Next...