Headline “Ambulance company sued over paramedic’s alleged assault of elderly San Mateo County patients.” Disgusting right? Adding insult to injury, the first victim was initially not believed and there was no DNA evidence to support her claim, however, when a second victim came forward with similar claims, investigators said they were able to gather DNA evidence from her body. Prior …
“The long-term care workforce crisis is well documented. Large numbers of vacancies in professional and direct care positions create significant obstacles for providers and workers committed to delivering high-quality care. Adding fuel to an already raging fire is the difficulty of attracting new talent to long-term care and retaining employees once they are hired. These difficulties are exacerbated by demography, …
I remember my first job as an LPN in a skilled nursing facility, it was frightening! I was hired to work the afternoon shift; however, I was trained on the dayshift, big difference, right? After a 3 day “orientation” period where I learned where the fire pulls were, where the kitchen was, how to turn off the valves for gas, …
Working night shifts has been associated with various negative effects, including fatigue, sleep disturbances, and workplace errors. Why is shift work a problem? Well, apparently shift work causes circadian rhythms to misalign with the demands of the environment. So, what can we do to ensure our caregivers are rested and awake to provide quality care to our residents? According to …
A video posted on a social media platform shows a female staff member slumping at a medical cart, apparently asleep. Of course, the video went viral with more than 50,000 views and shared more than 2,000 times. Yikes. Who would post such a thing? Shocking, it was a co-worker at the nursing home. Why would a staff member do something …
CMS is actively involved in a study, physically in nursing centers across the country to determine what minimum staffing numbers should look like. The study is suspected to be an effort by CMS to support their goal of minimum staffing requirements. The outcomes of the study won’t be available until April but are rumored to come out earlier so AHCA/NCAL, …
Nurse.org posted an anonymous survey in 2021 that was awarded the Gold Award for the Digital Health Awards, Best Media/Publications Article, Spring 2022! Congratulations to them and to all the nurses who took the time to share their experiences and feelings regarding the state of nursing. Nearly 1500 nurses participated in the survey, and they were asked about real issues …
Let’s face it, they just don’t mix! There are some dire projections out there including what some are calling the risk of a “tripledemic!” Just what we need, right? Cases of RSV are rising quickly in young children, filling ICU beds, in fact, most hospitalizations today are related to RSV and not COVID. Why? Because we have weakened our immunity, …
As the world turns, I shake my head, yes, this is going to be an “opinion blog”, sorry! If you recall, back in April 2020, CMS issued a waiver that allowed centers to utilize temporary nurse aides. If you also recall, this was in the throws of COVID-19 when staffing was challenged. Hmmmm…..isn’t staffing challenged today as well? So, in …
Staffing challenges have become the “norm” in post-acute care, there just aren’t enough caregivers to go around. Is this due to the pandemic? Maybe, maybe not, but whatever the cause, we are all struggling to staff our centers with competent, caring staff. Hopefully, we can avoid the “warm body syndrome” where we hire employees to “fill positions” versus hiring employees …
