The Daily Editors' Blog
Might there be a drug company in your future?
If you want to know what skilled care will look like in five years, consider what hospitals look like today.
The wrenching decision of receivership
Inadequate Medicaid reimbursement led the Matney family to make a wrenching decision at the end of July: To ask the state to take over the nursing home that had been in their family for 40-plus years.
For long-term care operators, every day is Labor Day
Hope you had a nice Labor Day. For most of the country, it comes around once a year. But if you are leading a long-term care organization, it's pretty much an everyday event.
McCain's passing reminds providers of special role with veterans
Among the many professionals seeking to make good out of former Sen. John McCain's final days are hospice and end-of-life caregivers. They point out that long-term care operators have plenty to learn about taking care of veterans as they near death.
The Real Nurse Jackie
Round and round and round we go . . .
Hey, I get it. Sometimes we are doing so much we feel like our head is spinning. But, guys, you can't forget to do your daily rounds. It is THE one thing you can do that will give you your biggest return on investment of time.
All we are saying is give pees a chance
Ok nurses and practitioners, this one is for you. Quit prescribing antibiotics for cloudy, funky-smelling pee. Weird pee is sometimes OK.
Guest blogs
Do you have butterflies or caterpillars on your leadership team?
Caterpillar leadership is what is needed for today's environment — except it is called transformational leadership.
What's a W?
All of this football talk made me think of wins at work. Don't we have little wins every day? I certainly feel like we do. It's the big wins, the memorable life changing moments that create culture. In our field culture is the ultimate "W."
Things I Think
Poor, poor pitiful me
When I ask rehab patients about the precipitating event that brought them to therapy, they can at least answer the question. Maybe they tripped on a zucchini vine, slipped on a grape in the grocery store or toppled off a bicycle while swerving to avoid a raccoon, but at least they know what happened. Not me.
Long-term care in the land of 'Sorry'
People often ask me what long-term care is like in Canada.* Trying to keep the peace, I usually answer, "Different." I choose this passive path because a) I'm Canadian, so it's genetic, and b) I know how quickly conversations can escalate these days.
The World According to Dr. El
How to support depressed workers and reduce absenteeism
Managers who acknowledge depression and actively offer help fostered greater presenteeism and less absenteeism.
9 reasons why it's better to congregate than disperse short-term rehab residents
In most of my long-term care career, I've witnessed short-term rehabilitation residents housed together. But not always. I don't know the reasoning behind dispersing residents, but from my perspective, dedicated rehab units work better.
