Privacy for All
We hear a lot about Medicare for All. How about if we start with Privacy for All, and see how that goes first?
Things I think
Things I Think
My high-sodium epiphany
In long-term care, we deal with the unexpected all the time. Many of the people we serve are there because something unanticipated happened, crashing into their lives like a no-warning tsunami — or a tamari bottle falling from the sky.
This time, memory loss researchers go too far
It seems that people who have the most hostility and difficulty coping with stress as young people don’t remember things as well as those with the least.
P is for ’possum
After receiving a flash of unexpected insight straight from the universe, I can finally say definitively: The P in PDPM is for ’possum. And, yes, there’s a story to tell.
Doing the Jellyfish
Gary Tetz While walking the beach this morning, on the Atlantic Coast where I’m taking an alleged vacation, I happened upon a marooned jellyfish left high and dry by the receding tide. Just a lifeless, weirdly beautiful blob of 95% water slowly evaporating in the sun. My first thought was, “Yeah, I’ve felt like that.”…
Celebrating the CAN, er, CNA
Here’s how you’ll know I’m sincere in my desire to celebrate some of long-term care’s most uncelebrated people. I’m willing to spend the next two hours trying to get the Word program to stop autocorrecting CNA to CAN.
Bring in the rocks
The troubling news that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is conducting a “comprehensive review” of nursing home regulations hit me like a truckload of giant boulders dropped on a homeless camp.
What must that be like?
“What must that be like?” It can serve as a mantra, helping us view each interaction, no matter how painful, with acceptance and resilience.
People read this stuff?
Will He Who Shall Not be Named start tweeting about me now? Will I get a pejorative nickname like Lyin’ Ted or Crooked HIllary? Testy Tetz perhaps?
Listen up! It’s the CMS podcast
If you’ve ever secretly longed for a way to combine the impenetrability of American healthcare policy with the ease of 21st century communication technology, you’ll be relieved and delighted to learn CMS now has a podcast.
Sure, you’re smart. But how well do you merge?
Isn’t finding a long-term addition to the team mostly about the culture and the fit? That’s why it’s imperative to find out how he or she is likely to behave on a freeway on-ramp (or office hallway).
It’s time for LTC consultants to change
After nights of sleepless worry on consultants’ behalf, I’ve developed a tweak to the old consulting model that will transform the way they do business and make their skills newly marketable.
Weird, wild and precious
So, let me get this straight: While others are sprinkling Xanax on their Lucky Charms every morning, I found a long-term care leader who’s excited about PDPM? Something clearly wasn’t right with the man.
If this is your sole motivation, it’s not worth it
Yikes. That’s about all I can think to say here at the start of 2019 in long-term care.
A simple thank-you
Thanks for being the supercharged superheroes of love and compassion you become every December.
A new Golden Rule for social media use in long-term care
I’ll admit it. I’m still a little angry. If righteous indignation were an alternative fuel source, I could solve climate change all on my own.
Scattering seeds
It was my birthday yesterday — the same day I found out that Fernald, a World War II veteran and one of the wisest, bravest and most adorable people I’ve ever known, had passed away.
Halloween — the ultimate staffing solution
Strolling with an adorable dog through my neighborhood at twilight last night was an eerie journey into the macabre. The neighbors’ yards have been scary for weeks — there’s an election going on, after all. But now the creepy dial was cranked to 11.
Heroes bring us together
Ever tempted to lose your faith in the essential goodness of human nature? Worried that our country is irreparably divided? A flight across the country with a group of iconic war heroes from long-term care facilities can do wonders for restoring one’s faith in humanity and hope for the future.
One little word, one big perception
A friend of mine had grown concerned about the condition of her mother, who is a resident at a skilled nursing facility in another state. It tears at her heart being so far away, and she doesn’t get there nearly as often as she’d like. One experience in particular didn’t help.
Want to read more?
Please login or register first to view this content.
Next post in Things I Think
