Guest Columns
With economic stress mounting on long-term care (LTC) pharmacies, uninterrupted access to prescription drugs for nursing home and assisted living patients is under threat. The average nursing home resident takes eight to nine prescriptions daily, and these medications are essential to their well-being. The midst of a pandemic is the wrong moment to risk ongoing…
COVID-19 has placed a spotlight on the nursing home industry and the challenges that nursing home owners, operators, administrators and other top managers face in keeping residents safe and well. They’ve been the subject of a mountain of press and social media attention; bloodied by some and treated a little more kindly by others. Regardless…
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…
Few of us paused July 17, 2019, to recognize a significant birth laying a substantial helping in controlling the COVID-19 virus. That event was the birth of an individual who’s seminal heritage appeared in children’s chalk on sidewalks, store windows, flags, billboards, etc. All became embedded in many of us. That date and recognition ceremonies around the…
My heart breaks for people impacted by the historic threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while it may seem like it has already been an eternity, we still have a long battle with this virus ahead of us. Those of us in our sector, along with everyone one else in the United States, are still…
Having honest conversations with long-term care residents about their end-of-life wishes should always be a priority for primary care physicians, specialists and facility clinicians. The COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the timeliness and value of these crucial discussions. Around the world, heartbreaking news stories describe nursing home, assisted living and long-term care residents who are dying…
The nursing home industry has a target on its back right now. The industry as a whole is being harshly criticized in the media, leaving questions not only about its state of preparedness but the quality of care. And while the criticisms are warranted in some cases, not everyone is in the same boat. Most…
As the month of May opened, the Navy’s hospital ship “Comfort” departed Manhattan, having housed fewer than 200 patients over 3 ½ weeks, and the state of New York announced plans to close temporary field hospitals after little usage. The temporary hospitals had been constructed to ease pressure on hospitals and help absorb projected surges of…
The COVID-19 crisis has been extremely challenging for those organizations and healthcare professionals who offer services to our “at risk” population especially our seniors. Our elderly members of our society continually cope with physical and emotional challenges of aging, but, like everyone, they seek to experience a good quality of life with quality care when they…
if we open up our country and “let the virus be the virus,” I suggest a program that designates three basic classes of Americans.
Dear Seema Verma, Let me start out by saying, we, in the long-term care community, understand what a difficult job you have been tasked with. This unprecedented event has devastated our elderly, specifically those in long-term care communities. I have been in long -term care for 30 years as a speech pathologist, administrator, owner and currently…
Amid a deep bout of “nurse guilt,” I feel like I should be doing more.
Caregiver fatigue and not having proper support contributes to the quality of care she/he is able to provide. Before anyone ever heard of COVID-19, most heard whispers of a nursing shortage. As our nation ramps up to care for the surge of COVID-19 patients, staffing shortages will exacerbate, especially among staff equipped to care for…
Hospitals have always enjoyed “most favored nation” status in healthcare, and that’s even more true during the COVID-19 pandemic. But apparently you can’t have heroes without villains. While lauding the sacrifices of hospitals, the media doesn’t mention long-term care’s needs, instead just focusing on facility deaths and impliedly, if not explicitly, blaming facilities for each one. Ignored…
Staring at the axe, I wondered how he felt swinging it in the air. It represented far more than a piece of metal attached to a length of wood.
Nursing homes are cruise ships on land; they have conditions that create the Perfect Storm. Physically, even with communal dining and group activities cancelled, often residents are in shared bedrooms with limited space making social distancing difficult. And, everyone has an underlying condition and age going against them as two more risk factors for complications…
So much is being written recently about the current trends that many are seeing with regard to the PDPM [Payment Driven Payment Model]. Early predictions warned about significant reductions to the amount and type of therapy provided and how that reality would draw the attention of CMS [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services]. In part…
Compliance with the Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers Final Rule indicates that skilled nursing facilities (SNF) along with other healthcare providers receiving Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services funds implement an “All Hazards” approach to emergency preparedness. This rule requires healthcare facilities including skilled nursing facilities (SNF) to conduct…
On their best days nursing homes start out behind the eight ball. Underfunded and understaffed, they care for the most physically needy and vulnerable among us. Generally, they are paid about 70% of the cost of care by their biggest customer, Medicaid. Try to imagine any business whose biggest customer tells them this is what…
“I don’t care … I’m leaving here!” “I didn’t want to come to rehab to start with.” “The hospital/doctor told me I had to come here on my insurance company wouldn’t pay for my hospital stay.” At some point in our healthcare careers (either in the past or assuredly in the future), we will all…
