I am having a hard time believing another year has gone by. Lord, it’s scary how fast time flies the older I get. Though to be honest, I sure want to put COVID, a zillion surveys, and negative government focus on us, behind us. 

Now, I know I am not a resolution person. I kind of think of resolutions as another year to make the same promise I can’t keep. I am never going to be a size 4 again. I probably will say a bad word by the time this is posted. I will probably make some of the same mistakes in a different way. 

I would try to quit all my bad habits for the new year, but then I remember that nobody likes a quitter! But seriously, I can create positive opportunities and make a positive impact in my sphere of influence. 

Remember that opportunities don’t always just happen, but you can always create them. So let’s create positive opportunities for our field together. (Yeah, take that, government!) 

Let’s take a leap of faith that the “old” yuck is behind us and we can begin a wondrous new year. We will need to set some goals, put plans in place and focus on succeeding. Always remember: If you have great clinical processes in place, survey results will follow. Plan this year on applying for an AHCA/NCAL quality award if it’s something you have never done or put off due to COVID.

Remember that just one, one positive thought in the morning can shape your whole day. Yes, even if you walk into eight surveyors and everything is on fire!

I know that we text, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, etc., Happy New Year messages to each other. Sending out New Year’s wishes is a tradition that I love. 

To my husband I said, “Happy New Year, my love. This new year can be another great year together … if you just continue to agree with everything I say!”

Here are my New Year’s wishes for you:

May this year bring happiness, achievement of goals, innovation and a lot of new inspiration for your life. Here’s wishing you a year loaded with happiness, great surveys, dedicated and growing staff, high census, no COVID, and no rogue surveyors. I pray the coming year is a joyful ride for you and your facility. 

Here’s wishing you the best new year ever.

Just keeping it real (and Happy New Year!),

Nurse Jackie

The Real Nurse Jackie is written by Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC, Senior Director of Clinical Innovation and Education for Mission Health Communities, LLC and an APEX Award of Excellence winner for Blog Writing. Vance is a real-life long-term care nurse. A nationally respected nurse educator and past national LTC Nurse Administrator of the Year, she also is an accomplished stand-up comedienne. The opinions supplied here are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of her employer or her professional affiliates.

The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.