McKnight’s Long-Term Care News editors and guest bloggers present readers with a fantastic array of opinions and analysis every day — at least 12 times a week, in fact. A look back at readers’ favorite columns in 2018 shows just how deep and broad the writing wealth goes.
Below are the favorite columns from each of our editors and guest bloggers in 2018. The “votes” came from the clicks by website visitors such as yourself. They include newsletter readers, social media followers and other friends.
Here’s a chance to revisit, or read for the first time, the columns that were most popular from Jan. 1 to Dec. 20, 2018. (Note that they do not include our “regular” columnists, who appear at mcknights.com with their own specially branded blogs. They’ll get their turn later.)
• Top column written by Editorial Director John O’Connor:
Skilled care operators might want to curb their PDPM enthusiasm
The industry’s new Patient-Driven Payment Model has brought Editorial Director John O’Connor anxious feelings of deja vu. It was just over 20 years ago that another new reimbursement proposal was getting rave reviews, but four years later, more than 1,000 skilled care facilities were scrambling for creditor protection. Hopes did not become reality in that instance, as this May 7 column recounts.
• Top column written by Senior Editor Elizabeth Newman
When a nurse seems too good to be true
Senior Editor Elizabeth Newman recounts the bizarre, horrifying details of nomadic, always employable nurse Charles Cullen. He worked in numerous settings, including a nursing home, over a 16-year period. And he’s credited with killing dozens of patients. The tragic sometimes tragi-comic, circumstances — which touch on poor managers, weak employee tracking and contemptible electronic records practices — are already the basis of a book and could be coming to a big screen near you soon.
• Top column written by Staff Writer Marty Stempniak
4 steps toward slaying the zombies in your nursing home
You need the right kind of employees to run a successful LTC operation, and that doesn’t mean zombies. Staff Writer Marty Stempniak explains what this means with flair in an April 20 column. His observations were based on a keynote presentation from one of the most respected professionals in the field.
• Top column written by yours truly, Editor James M. Berklan
… And now back to that little ol’ entity called HCR ManorCare
When you’re the biggest nursing home chain in the country and things fall apart as badly as they did for HCR Manorcare, you’re going to get interest. In this August 8 piece, I remind that, despite some financial troubles, ManorCare and its skilled employees still have a lot to offer.
• Top guest column
Why I chose to leave the nursing home profession
The frustration and anger flowing from former licensed nursing home administrator Paula Boggess obviously struck a nerve. Readers latched onto this April 6 guest column like no other this year.
• Top Marketplace Expert column:
3 tips for handling mean nurses
Another staffing-related column, this time about hard-to-handle nurses amid a continuing shortage of good ones — resonated heartily with readers when it debuted on August 22, and continues to do so.
Continue to look for more thought-provoking columns and analyses at www.mcknights.com throughout 2019. Our editors and guest submitters promise to make it worth your while.
And while you’re at it, consider whether you, or perhaps someone you know, would like to join the legions who have already submitted and published a Guest Blog, enriching themselves, their peers and the profession in the process. If there’s interest, please let us know.
Follow Editor James M. Berklan @JimBerklan.
