Risk Management

Social media in the workplace

Do you have any clue as to how many of your employees “tweet”? Do you know how many employees have a Facebook page? Who among your employees is Read More »

Old law-New problem

The courts are becoming cluttered with wage and hour lawsuits. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) cases are emerging as a leader in employment Read More »

Consumer protection and CCRCs

Continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) have attracted the attention of the federal government and two parallel investigations of the Read More »

Protecting administrators from ‘layer in between’

At a glance… This article will examine how the administrator of record could be disciplined for negative outcomes of decisions made by managers who Read More »

Why Steve Jobs should run healthcare (video)

New terms are being bantered about in healthcare. One is the “accountable care organization.” The idea is that a group of providers—primary care Read More »

Nursing home safety issues

When I initially came here I was very concerned about wandering residents. They came into my room whether my door was closed or not. As an Read More »

Improve quality of care to reduce liability

Increasing litigation and difficulty in insuring facilities have forced an increasing number of long-term care (LTC) providers to divert critical Read More »

Internal audits

Staying on top of ever-changing government regulations is one of the greatest challenges for long-term care facilities. Poor training often leads to Read More »

Risk management: Lighting’s impact on residents

An issue receiving more and more attention by researchers and designers in long-term care is lighting and glare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Read More »

Medication errors: Managing the risk

The medication errors experienced by actor Dennis Quaid's newborn twins have received a lot of media attention. While hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Read More »

Focuson Bariatrics

Bariatric Bed NOA Medical's Bariatric Bed with a safe working load of 750 lbs is designed to accommodate 98% of all bariatric patients. The 42" wide Read More »

The snapshot: Recording a thousand words’ worth of evidence

In the first part of this series in the October issue, we looked at the reasons to use photography in long-term care investigations and the tools Read More »

Survey Survival

Long-term care facilities are not strangers to regulation 483.25(h) Accidents as it historically represents and continues to make the Centers for Read More »

The best monitoring may begin with ‘hello’

While long-term care providers appropriately advance the next generation of “Nana” technologies for monitoring the health and well-being of older adults. Read More »

Are your fall interventions enough?

It is estimated that as many as 75% of nursing home residents fall annually, twice the rate of seniors living in the community. Many of these falls Read More »

Floor maintenance: A scientific approach to slip/fall prevention

While studies show that elderly and infirm people often slip and fall because of reasons related to their age, medication, illness, or other Read More »

The snapshot: Recording a thousand words’ worth of evidence

Documenting evidence is essential to any investigation. Photography, a powerful and yet convenient form of documentation, allows an investigator to Read More »

Is pressure ulcer prevention alive and well?

Prevention of pressure ulcers is a constant process for long-term care facilities, but vitally important to preserve residents' health and avoid Read More »

Restraint reduction: A success story

Nationwide, nursing home facilities are striving to comply with federally mandated restraint reductions. Brigetta Nethery, nursing home Read More »

Flying Glass Can Be Deadly

Window film can strengthen glass to withstand everything from accidental impact to explosions Read More »

How Assisted Living Should Prepare for Disaster

Assisted living regulations vary widely from state to state, and official involvement in a facility's disaster preparedness can vary, as well. No Read More »

The FLSA Minefi elds Await the Unwary LTC Employer

The Wage and Hour Division (Wage/Hour) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which administers and enforces the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA or Read More »

Claims Management: From Report to Resolution

when faced with a liability claim, a facility needs to take immediate and decisive action, for its reputation and financial well-being may be on the Read More »

The continuing threat of C. difficile infection

Clostridium difficile—also known as C. diff—is a bacterium commonly found in hospitals and long-term care (LTC) settings. Infection can lead to Read More »

Resident lift slings: A silent risk?

Use of resident lift equipment has grown over the past decade, and that has helped to reduce transferrelated injuries to nursing staff. Many Read More »

Facility Condition Assessments in Nursing Homes

Day-to-day operations, including the staff and appearance of the building and its equipment, are the “face” of the nursing home for its residents Read More »

Focuson Infection Control

Skin Care Lantiseptic® skin care products, available from Links Medical Products, Inc., provide skin barrier protection for incontinence. They are Read More »

Operating a sanitary and safe kitchen

Salmonella…E. coli…C. botulinum… These ominous words have been making headlines. Contaminated or tainted food can have devastating—even Read More »

Double-check for disaster

Not long ago I had the severe displeasure of reading a book called The Edge of Disaster by one Stephen Flynn*. Mr. Flynn is billed in the author Read More »

Private insurance companies for nursing homes

Nursing homes, hospitals, and other long-term care facilities throughout the country continue to face increased pricing and coverage limitations on Read More »