At last. I haven’t worn a mask in public in months, I’m starting to see friends again, I’m eating in restaurants again, and my new normal is the old normal. Life is good. There’s some hesitation...
Honoring our fallen
By
Sara Bender
May 04, 2022
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.” — Helen Keller. These past two years of the pandemic have presented clinical challenges...
You think we’re doing this for fun?
By
Renee Kinder
Feb 03, 2022
Two weeks ago, over her post-game Chick-fil-A, my 14-year-old put me in my place. I was, because I thought being a good mother required so, upset over the overly aggressive basketball schedule her father...
A happy Christmas to all
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Dec 14, 2021
‘Twas the morning of Christmas, when all through the buildingNo staff member was sitting, but everyone scurrying.The residents were washed and groomed with care,Knowing that visitors (finally) soon...
Making the loneliness epidemic a mainstream problem, finally
By
Joel Landau
Feb 22, 2021
With the coronavirus pandemic still raging this summer, a senior living facility in North Carolina began posting photos on its Facebook page, each showing a resident holding a sign that listed the person’s...
Almost done
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 04, 2021
“Almost done,” the doctor assured me, as she aimed her laser at my right eye. Then over the next 20 minutes, she said it several more times. By then I knew it was all a cruel deception, meant to distract...
CNA workforce at a breaking point
By
Lori Porter
Jan 29, 2021
COVID-19 is now responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 residents and staff in the 15,000 nursing homes in this country. I’ve been in this field 40 years —as a certified nursing assistant,...
COVID-19 underscores PDPM advantages
By
Bent Philipson
Jan 27, 2021
The efficacy of the Patient-Driven Payment Model has never been clearer than now, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. PDPM enabled skilled nursing facilities to see a 9% increase in Medicare reimbursement...
Salvation by social media
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 21, 2021
I always thought it was only good for destroying the world, but now I’m here to boldly predict that social media will ultimately save us. After the horrors we’ve been through these past few years...
What 2021 has in store on the legal front
By
Neville M. Bilimoria
Jan 20, 2021
Everyone has been celebrating that 2020 is over, and who can blame them? Yet, I can’t help think the legal issues facing long term care in 2020 won’t necessarily go away in 2021. Some of the lingering...