We all know about the rumored, accepted and commonly used practices that relate to rehab in the skilled nursing Facility, but do we really know if they’re valid and supported by a regulation? Yes, speech therapy can be the only skilled intervention for those patients who need it. No, progress is not a criterion for…
So many times, we get questions about how to “skill” a resident. Is she skilled if she’s getting IVs? Is he skilled because he’s getting wound care? What about the resident whose trach is capped? Is she skilled? When the rehab patient reaches the almighty “plateau”, and isn’t getting better, is he still skilled?
As healthcare workers, especially as healthcare workers in long-term care, we don’t have jobs that most people can identify with.
We need to better understand our dementia residents and learn how to enter their world to make them comfortable, maintain their dignity and improve the quality of their lives.
At the end of 2017, Congress recessed before a decision was made on the repeal of the Part B Therapy Cap that we’ve been living with, working around, and appealing since 1998.
Most of us have used or at least aware of the PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire) scale for depression. Through a series of questions that are directly related to the DSM-IV criteria, a patient or caregiver can determine whether they’re depressed and how best to address their depression.
I’ve seen it so often it becomes routine: Your coworkers complain about everything, they keep complaining, you start complaining just to join in, and soon you’re involved in Complain-Fest 2017.
The new Resident Classification System, which may be implemented Oct 1, 2018, is changing the game. I say “may be implemented” because there’s reason to believe that it may be delayed a year.
For those of us approaching the age where some of our peers are starting to show decline in their cognition, it’s certainly worth doing everything we can and exploring all options to preserve the physical and mental health of our clients.
The unmentionably difficult burden of a new MDS Section frightened and appalled all of us last October.
