A slippery slope
Should we follow “the Golden Rule” and treat others the way we would want to be treated? In a word, no.
Most recent articles by Gary Tetz
Almost done
“Almost done,” the doctor assured me, as she aimed her laser at my right eye. Then over the next 20 minutes, she said it several more times. By then I knew it was all a cruel deception, meant to distract me from the fact that a white-hot beam of light was pummeling one of my…
Infection control forever
By all accounts, flu season is off to a low-key start. In long-term care facilities, that’s a silver lining in all our COVID-19 protocols and precautions. For staff who have been swaddled in PPE for the past nine months while dutifully practicing social distancing at homes, it’s a richly deserved bonus prize for vigilance.
Salvation by social media
I always thought it was only good for destroying the world, but now I’m here to boldly predict that social media will ultimately save us. After the horrors we’ve been through these past few years with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, you probably didn’t see that hypothesis coming. But here’s how it’s going to happen: by…
A beautiful thing to celebrate
This is a good time to focus on something undeniably positive that’s happening in our own profession.
Just a box
It’s just a box. Not that different from the one that will probably show up on your doorstep or mine today, maybe stuffed with holiday gifts or toilet paper. So why am I feeling a little choked up standing here staring at it? This wave of sudden emotion makes no sense. Usually I associate a…
Moment of truth
Now that vaccines really are imminent and long-term care staff and residents look to be first in line, you’re probably holding your breath, desperately longing for an answer to the most important question of all: What does Gary Tetz think I should do? That’s completely normal. I’m what the kids call an influencer, so it…
At last, a wisp of hope
Gather around, dearly beloved long-term care people. Let’s have a little talk. I’m looking at all of you, in every facility role — the whole heroic and beautiful group. We’ll meet in the parking lot, where it’s safe, and I’ll climb up on this rickety med cart, so you can hear me better.
Paul Revere rides again
Where is Paul Revere when we need him? It seems like he should be racing through every hamlet and long-term care facility in America shrieking, “The vaccine is coming! The vaccine is coming!”
Embracing the now
It’s one of the most ubiquitous laments of the pandemic, how time passes in a shapeless blur. “Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the days,” goes the song from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” And it’s true — they just somehow disappear, even while seeming to loiter in tedious slow motion.
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