In my last column, “How to quit like a shrink,” I outlined ways to exit a nursing home that solidify the connections made there and offer the opportunity for healing. Assuming you’re not independently wealthy, what follows after leaving one position is beginning another. The start of a new job, while exciting and hopeful, also … Read more
Jane Gross’ recent post Seeing the ‘Invisible Patient’ in the “New Old Age” blog of the New York Times discusses how professionals often ignore the needs of caregivers of the elderly because they are focused on their identified patient. As the author states, “Not once in the years I cared for my mother did any of … Read more
The Five-Star Quality Rating System reports the results of health inspections, staffing and quality measures. I suggest we replace the current staffing measure with one tracking staff retention. Here’s my logic: The existing staffing score is the ratio of nursing staff to residents, taking care needs into account. In allowing for self-reporting of the data, … Read more
In one of the more disturbing encounters I’ve had in long-term care — in a 5-Star deficiency-free nursing home — I offered my condolences to an aide on the loss of a resident she’d cared for over a period of two years. The aide, a heavyset woman, smiled as she told me that she’d known … Read more
You know the scenario: A resident wants to eat donuts, but it will send her blood sugar skyrocketing. The staff members aren’t sure whether to let her indulge as part of person-centered care or to insist on a sugar-free alternative so that they’re not out of compliance with her care plan. A recent study by … Read more
The top recommendation in the April 9 McKnight’s article “Researchers share 6 tips to improve nursing home care for blacks and Latinos” was to include a social worker on staff in the facility. “Great,” a reader commented, but “ask CMS … if they will pay for it.” Perhaps, though better yet, social workers will pay … Read more
Cold weather. An uncertain world. Rogue shrinks making the rest of us caring, diligent professionals look bad. I don’t know about you, but I need a mood lifter. I came across an article that suggests that exercise of all kinds, even small movements, can make us feel less depressed. In “Get up and move. It … Read more
Here’s my latest article on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News: Calming fears of floods and other catastrophes By now it’s likely that you, your staff, the residents and their families have seen the incredibly disturbing photo of assisted living residents in Dickinson, TX, sitting in waist-high floodwaters. Thankfully, all the older women in the picture have … Read more
Despite the fact that my search for column inspiration took place at 3 a.m., I chose the topic of sleep deprivation because residents regularly tell me about their own sleep disturbances. They also discuss their pain. Though their aches often keep them up at night, a January 2019 article in the New York Times, “Why … Read more
As a psychologist, I’ve talked with hundreds of residents as they transition to living in a Skilled Nursing Care center. In the privacy of a psychotherapy session, new residents will frequently share with me things they haven’t mentioned to their families, often because they don’t quite know what to say or how to say it. … Read more