So often as administrators, we focus on the bigger picture items of our typical day: meetings, staffing, financials, marketing, building/maintenance, QI, etc. These are important and essential components. But sometimes it's the little things, the simple things, that can be so powerful.

In my many years of practicing nursing and providing care for seniors, it's exciting to see how new technology can make the lives of those in our profession easier and more satisfying. I'm speaking of the iPad.

The Medicare adjustments of fiscal year 2012 have left the long-term care profession discussing and debating care strategies to ensure success and mitigate the reductions in reimbursement. A key indicator when analyzing clinical and financial solidity is the facility's clinically anticipated Medicare length of stay.

We are at a critical point in long-term care. The perfect storm is upon us: baby boomers hitting 65, the decline of the U.S. economy and housing market, increasing healthcare costs that demand we rethink our business. Long-term care providers who don't evolve will be passed by.

Since the late 1990's, the Minimum Data Set has been a primary driver in the long-term care industry, influencing all areas of skilled nursing facility operations. With so much depending on it, ensuring its accuracy is vital.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become the third leading cause of death in the U.S. — 12 years earlier than predicted — the days when COPD symptoms were dismissed as "normal" signs of aging are well behind us.

Just a year and a half later and I was done. Even for two weeks after the fact, I was numb - completely drained of emotion, lethargic, and avoiding interaction with others. Burnout.

Back in Philadelphia, I was a hospital executive who moonlighted as a musician and singer in bands, casinos and nightclubs. When I tired of the band scene, I was looking for an outlet for my musical talents and that is when I discovered performing in long-term care facilities, something I do to this day.

The National Labor Relation Board's Acting General Counsel has released a report summarizing a number of recent NLRB decisions involving employers' restrictions on employee use of social media. They provide insight as to how the NLRB is currently reviewing social media issues that impact employee rights.

Falls in the elderly can be a devastating event. They are the leading cause of hospital admissions for trauma and the leading cause of injury deaths for this age group, and amount to a direct medical cost of nearly $20 billion per year in the United States alone.