I got the first step. The first step of the vaccine gave me a headache, a sore arm and the euphoric feeling of hope for release from the restrictions, illness and death that have literally plagued us for nearly a year. I’m pleased that I had side effects. This means that even at my (advanced)…
This is a throwback to college reading. It’s been a while for some of us, so bear with me for a minute. In 1864’s Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s narrator believes life in Utopia removes suffering and pain, but he thinks we need both to feel alive. He argues that removing suffering and pain removes…
The sun is shining, the sky is blue, the leaves are turning and the temperature is dropping. It’s another lovely fall day, but what does that mean for those of us in healthcare? October is when we expect the flu season to start, and we have to make sure our flu shots are up to…
A friend recently told me that her co-worker doesn’t believe in vaccines. They are microbiologists. I know of someone who is a flat-earth believer. He’s an amateur pilot. We see healthcare workers wearing masks below their noses, effectively making them ineffective and useless. There is no excuse for discounting the science. For the last six…
Disclaimer: I know I’m preaching to the choir. But it has to be said, so I’m saying it. I keep hearing defenses against wearing a mask in public. I wear one to protect YOU. I work in a COVID-19 facility and may be carrying a virus unawares. Some say “If I die, I die. I…
We work in long-term care and we have COVID-19 patients. This is not news. Everyone who’s reading this can say the same. How are we handling it? We are all different. It’s also not news that we don’t have enough personal protective equipment, we don’t have enough support, and that our directives change daily. Because…
To borrow from Gabriel Garcia Marquez, writer of Love in the Time of Cholera: “He allowed himself to be swayed by his conviction that human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but that life obliges them over and over again to give birth to…
After spending three days in training as an examiner for a prestigious healthcare quality award, I came away with a better understanding and appreciation of how quality is measured and how it affects our facilities and our goals. The IMPACT Act of 2014 required the implementation of specific set of measures using standardized assessment data.…
You know how sometimes you’re asked to speak on a subject with which you have years of experience? Then during your research you discover a wormhole that’s so much deeper and more concerning that you had previously thought when you agreed to take on this engagement? I do.
We are all on the same voyage, one that took us through uncharted territory and into the Land of Payment Overhaul. We have made it safely ashore and are working hard to understand the society and adapt to their way of life. Just over a month ago, we accepted and adapted to the new Medicare…
