CDC panel recommends COVID-19 boosters for long-term care residents
By
Danielle Brown
Sep 24, 2021
Long-term care residents are one step closer to receiving Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster shots after an advisory panel affiliated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention approved a key recommendation...
Providers seek more as CDC eases masking guidelines for most Americans
By
Danielle Brown
Feb 28, 2022
Providers are urging the federal government to “not leave long-term care residents behind” after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday announced relaxed masking guidelines for about...
Goodbye, Colbert . . . hello, flu
By
Tim Mullaney
Dec 23, 2014
In honor of Stephen Colbert’s recently ended run on Comedy Central, I’d like to address some “truthiness” I’ve recently spotted, which I believe could harm long-term care...
Feds wait for lowered vaccine efficacy to recommend COVID-19 booster shots
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 22, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will not be necessary until mRNA vaccines become less effective, federal health officials say. But immunocompromised Americans are potential near-term recipients, they told...
Flu season isn’t over: 7 tips to help prevent the spread
By
Megan J. DiGiorgio MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC
Mar 27, 2017
If a resident in a long-term care facility is suspected to have the flu, it’s important to test, isolate and provide antiviral therapy.
Why we developed the Norovirus prevention guide
By
Pat McBride
Nov 16, 2018
If you want to cause panic on an airplane, yell “Bomb!” If you want to cause panic among the staff of a senior living community, mention that you suspect a case of norovirus. Arguably, norovirus...
Public data on coronavirus nursing home outbreaks still weeks away
By
Danielle Brown
May 11, 2020
The federal government is still weeks away from publicly reporting nationwide COVID-19 nursing home data, according to an NBC News report.
Of Purell and payment reform
By
Tim Mullaney
Apr 16, 2013
I was sympathetic when the Partnership for Sustainable Health Care called for a speedier shift away from fee-for-service last week — and I also thought about Purell. Yes, that Purell.
CDC: COVID vaccines safe during pregnancy, allaying a top concern of nursing home workers
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 28, 2021
Pregnancy concerns are cited as one of the top reasons for vaccine hesitancy among long-term care workers, but there were no obvious signs of third trimester adverse events among pregnant women who received...
CDC devises new way to estimate flu-related deaths
Aug 30, 2010
Many healthcare workers may be familiar with this statistic: Each year, roughly 36,000 people die from influenza. Now, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is walking away from this decades-old...