Though Genesis HealthCare is making vaccinations for long-term care workers mandatory, I’m not so foolish as to reveal my own true feelings about the requirement. I fear the warring ghosts of liberty...
When the fog lifts
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 16, 2021
I fancy myself a brave and intrepid hiker, and a couple weeks ago chose a particularly daunting trail that was rumored to lead to some of the best possible views of Mount Hood, the 11,249-foot peak that...
The killer hiding on the porch
By
Gary Tetz
May 19, 2022
I’m not easily surprised these days, because…everything. But I just stumbled across an astonishing bit of data.
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...
Everything matters
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 22, 2021
I’m a slow and resistant student in the classroom of life. And perhaps the truth I face most reluctantly is how unwelcome and painful challenges teach lessons that I probably wouldn’t learn any other...
I’ve just seen a face
By
Gary Tetz
May 27, 2021
I don’t want to put a hex on the situation with a premature celebration, but the downward trajectory of the pandemic makes it appear that long-term care people can finally perhaps maybe start discretely...
Breaking news: The pandemic was hard
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 06, 2022
That pandemic. Wow. While it was happening and people were dying and stuff, I remember thinking, “This is kind of a difficult time we’re going through. I feel a little stressed and anxious.” But...
Sleep like your life depends on it
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 01, 2021
One thing I’ve learned in my mostly unsuccessful lifelong quest to get enough sleep is that nothing helps more than feeling under pressure to do so. So learning in McKnight’s that extra sleep reduced...
Grateful? Make a list
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 02, 2021
While walking reluctantly into our place of long-term care employment yesterday, a colleague and I started talking sarcastically about how delighted we were to be alive and at work. We didn’t mean a...
After the train
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 08, 2021
There’s a hopeful phrase we started hearing a lot from long-term care leaders, residents and staff when the vaccines first arrived—“a light at the end of the tunnel.” Invariably some wise-guy or...