Five-Star insights: Will those stars ever illuminate your path?
By
Steven Littlehale
May 16, 2012
I recently asked a hospital discharge planner how she chooses which nursing home to discharge to. “Five-Star” was the reply. Was I surprised? Not at all. Once again, it demonstrates just how...
A tisket, a tasket … No LPNs in the RN basket
By
Steven Littlehale
Jul 20, 2015
Reporting direct care hours is nothing new, but the Affordable Care Act takes it to the next level with mandatory quarterly electronic submission of staffing and census data. This focus on staffing ratios...
Agency staffing on the rise? Believe it — and plan for it
By
Steven Littlehale
Nov 21, 2016
The use of contract agency staff to fill nurse aide and licensed nurse vacancies is escalating. This increase is seen across many states, not to mention across the nation as a whole. Yes, we have a well-documented...
From volume to value: The conversation now applies to staffing
By
Steven Littlehale
Aug 21, 2015
It’s all you hear about in healthcare today: from Volume to Value. With the July 30 release of the PPS proposed rule, we see how this discussion now applies to staffing.
Keeping your employees by knowing their worth
By
Jean Wendland Porter
Jul 26, 2022
Everyone is in a hiring bind. Twenty-four percent of American SNFs report as short-staffed. I’m surprised it’s that low. We are stressed by losing staff, scheduling interviews with no-shows, and...
Lessons from Yolanda
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 02, 2015
Long-term care has far too many professionals with a depth and range of skill and training that the public almost never gets to see.
An alternative view on anti-staffing mandate legislation
By
Carrie Leljedal
Mar 15, 2024
“Infinity and beyond” may be a rallying cry for Buzz Lightyear, yet when it comes to staffing and the welfare of the elderly and disabled in nursing homes. the system in our country is going backward....
Finally, a pod-based staffing solution
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 26, 2023
Finding warm-ish, semi-qualified bodies is just part of the long-term care staffing challenge. Without being psychic or subjecting each applicant to a full, military-grade psychological evaluation, how...