Interesting: that's about the only way a third-party observer can sum up the "What's next?" phase of presidential politics when it comes to long-term care.

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team was facing an onslaught of advice, and what some could call threats, after winning the popular vote Nov. 4.

Just a handful of weeks from inauguration day, long-term care providers were still scratching their heads, trying to figure out whether they were happy with the election win of Barack Obama more than a month earlier.

The era of the venerated five-star nursing home could be just around the corner. Then again, it might not.

In the beginning, there was - and let me emphasize up front still is - the printed page. And now we enter a new era, one that includes live-action video news clips on our home page—www.mcknights.com.

Does it seem like the job's been a bit extra stressful lately? Maybe the co-workers aren't stepping up to the plate enough? Is the pressure from above getting to you? Or you're already (or still?) worried about your next visit from surveyors. Understandable. Totally. But whatever you think you're feeling, realize that these are the good times.

A leading nursing-home association is calling for an independent panel to come up with new methods for overseeing nursing facilities. The association's task force issued 31 recommendations, highlighting steps that can be taken.

Providers might not realize how much times have changed. It's a buyer's market when it comes to facility insurance policies

Some people, and their groups, are better at furthering the art of tactless solicitation than others. For the latest case of hoof-in-mouth disease, we only have to look to our friends at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, otherwise known as PETA (www.peta.org).

Federal regulators have put themselves on the spot as a result of their new five-star rating system for nursing homes.