Having my say Articles

Nurses' unique roles

February 01, 2011

Charlotte Eliopoulos, PhD, Executive Director AALTCN
 

Alzheimer's and you: Honoring caregivers

November 01, 2010

In November, we celebrate two closely related months of national recognition: National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month.
 

The Olmstead impact: How class actions affect long-term care facilities

November 01, 2010

Imagine that a class-action lawsuit—to which your long-term care facility isn't even a party—has the potential to disrupt your residents and put you out of business.
 

Give the gift of music

October 01, 2010

In my 15 years of experience as a therapeutic musician leading musical sing-along programs for those with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, I often see music's power to unlock memories.
 

A new idea for hospice

October 01, 2010

The dual coverage arrangement for hospice care requires a contract between the Medicare-certified hospice and the nursing home. Such care answers to two separate regulatory systems—for hospice and for the nursing facility—that aren't always well coordinated and to two philosophies of care that can sometimes be at odds.
 

Vaccination imperative: protecting residents from pneumococcal disease

September 01, 2010

It is incumbent upon facility administrators and others in supervisory positions to recognize the severity of pneumococcal disease and give serious thought to providing residents with optimal protection.
 

Mind your p's and q's: good manners in the nursing home

August 01, 2010

Of all the considerations in running a successful senior care community, generational differences between our team members and older residents rarely get the attention they deserve.
 

Meeting expectations

July 01, 2010

There may be no better reflection of how long-term care has changed in recent years than the continued proliferation of continuing care retirement communities and active adult communities across the country.
 

Mental health needs

July 01, 2010

The recent Illinois legal decision to move mentally ill nursing home residents into smaller mental health settings is likely to prompt an industrywide examination of the practice of accepting mentally ill residents into long-term care.
 

Cut the puppet strings

June 01, 2010

The current combination of recession, Medicare cuts, RUGs-IV, MDS 3.0, state budget crises, QIS, RAC, and the unknowable final shape of healthcare reform are reminiscent of the 1998 switch to a prospective payment system.