Recent Blog Posts
The Equalizer: A holiday story from the ‘Before’ time
Louise, a petite, 79-year-old woman, was the roommate of another resident I was seeing for psychotherapy at the nursing home. Louise sat by the B bed watching TV and working her needlepoint, anchoring the tapestry frame against her chest with one arm while she slowly...
Managing a bah humbug holiday season
By now many of us have viewed the viral video of residents gleefully shooting soft foam balls at laughing staff members dressed as reindeer dodging through a pine-tree “forest.” It’s the kind of merriment suitable for the 2020 holidays — one that uses humor and...
Fostering post-traumatic growth in long-term care
The COVID-19 pandemic has been taxing for virtually everyone in long-term care, from the C-suite to direct care providers. I’ve written about my own experience with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after working in a pandemic epicenter earlier in the year. While...
From blame to education: Rethinking the nursing home survey process
The treatment team sat around the table calculating the approximate arrival date of the surveyors based on rumors, past years’ experience, and sightings from colleagues at other facilities in the city. “If they approach you,” the director of nursing advised, “try not...
Nursing Home Love Story #6: The Case of the Reluctant Resident
“Hi, Mabel! Do you have some time to talk to me?” Mabel, I knew, had all the time in the world, since she refused to go to activities. She sat across from the nursing station, her hefty frame filling her extra-large wheelchair, watching the nursing staff, the other...
Nursing Home Love Story #5: The New Roommate
I settled down to talk to Pearl, eager to hear how she was faring in her new room. Her voice was strained. “Well, she’s not rummaging through my closet, like Beatrice did. But she told me everybody likes me better than her.” “It makes you uncomfortable.” “Yes! And she...