At the risk of sounding alarmist, your facility’s bath tubs and accessories such as lifts are likely going to make your residents sick — some experts say very sick. Unless, of course, you’re taking the right precautions The biggest problem is, well, people. Not to be indelicate, but bath and shower water are a veritable…
It’s not unusual for nursing home staff to help a resident walk again. But when that resident has a rare neurodegenerative disease and wants badly to not just walk but to dance at her son’s wedding, that’s a goal requiring true teamwork. Pruitt Health Pickens in South Carolina delivered for Regina Clardy, 49, who had…
James Marx, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC APIC Infection prevention specialist Q: What do you advise for providers needing an infection control specialist for the 2019 deadline? A: Consider sharing a trained infection preventionist between two or more facilities. This would allow the IP to focus their skills full time rather than be diverted to other…
In its ongoing effort to help long-term care providers ensure older adults have access to quality care and a sustained quality of life as they age, the LeadingAge Center for Aging Services Technology (CAST) has released an updated version of its Social Connectedness and Engagement Technology Online Selection Tool and Product Matrix. Social isolation —…
What should our wound care nurse audit, and how often, to ensure our skin integrity program is on track? At least once a month, time should be set aside for the wound care nurse to audit the skin integrity program. The amount of time depends on the size of your facility. Select two to three…
Despite increasing numbers of older adults accessing the internet, most still use significantly fewer digital applications and spend less time online than younger adults. To examine why this might be, researchers at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom embarked on a series of interviews with older adults. In a paper published in the Association for…
Engineers have developed two new nano ber dressings that accelerate healing and improve tissue regeneration. Both dressings — created by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering — use naturally occurring proteins to promote healing and regrow tissue. The team described…
For a microcosm of life in perpetual motion, its pleasures and challenges, and every accompanying human emotion, it’s not necessary to loiter at the airport. Just sit quietly in the lobby of any senior care facility. Pain. Fear. Relief. Anger. Beauty. Courage. Fatigue. Triumph. Sadness. Resolve. All those and more are written across the faces…
An 18-month review of the Long Beach Wound Scores system showed it can be an intuitive and effective way to assess and categorize patients with diabetic foot ulcers. LBWS includes five assessments using 2-point (best) to 0-point (worst) grades based on specific findings to generate a 0- to 10-point wound score. For a study published…
“I was a newbie on the job. I worked to develop rapport with the residents and staff. I always had wanted to work with Wesley Woods. I would ride past it and hope. It has changed so drastically over the years. Back then, there were no uniforms and we didn’t have computers.” — Linda Smith,…
