Resident Care

Are clinical ladders only for nursing?

There is no doubt that the nursing department houses a large number of employees. It is, most often, the largest department and provides most of the Read More »

Highlights from previous OPTIMA Award submissions: The Angel Care Program

“I wish I knew she was dying. L.R. and I have been friends for five years. We have been on the same floor. We ate in the same dining room, at the Read More »

They call it a nursing home for a reason

I remember a television advertisement not too long ago for an Alzheimer’s drug that has a middle-aged woman narrating about her fear that she would Read More »

Quality indicator meetings ‘de-stress’surveys

State surveys bring butterflies and stress to long term-care staff and administration. In order to survive these events, facilities must design Read More »

A team approach to effective wound care

Most nursing facilities will tell families they do wound care, but not all wound care programs are as effective and successful as others. There are Read More »

Nursing home wound care: The case for hyperbaric medicine

Bed sores, lesions, pressure sores, and chronic wounds are a constant source of worry, not to mention infection, and are enormously problematic for Read More »

Eliminating inappropriate medications in the elderly

When thinking of quality improvement in the long-term care setting, not many areas are more important than the threat of medication errors and their Read More »

Dying in place

Ahospice prognosis once meant that seniors who were living in care communities were required to leave that setting for a hospital or hospice Read More »

Softening the assessment process

The culture change movement has taught us so much, causing us to think twice about what we do. We're finding, unfortunately, that many of the Read More »

Across-the-board savings with resident lifts

Savings-not only in insurance and worker's compensation dollars, but in reduced problems for residents and staff-accrued in a major way with the Read More »

Strategies for infusing well-being

What do you think of when you hear the term “well-being”? Does it imply happiness? Do we need perfect health to obtain it? The concept of well-being Read More »

Intergenerational Vacation Bible School

An intergenerational Vacation Bible School program is a way to bridge the past with the future. The children of today are the doctors, nurses, Read More »

Enhanced continence care

Resident incontinence represents a major challenge for the long-term care (LTC) industry. It negatively impacts residents on many levels and has a Read More »

Palm Garden of Ocala 2008 OPTIMA Award Ceremony

OPTIMA Award presentations tend to be memorable occasions, and the ceremony last fall at Palm Garden of Ocala was no exception. A sizable number of Read More »

Nursing challengessupport association

“Do we really need another nursing association?” This question is raised occasionally as the number of long-term care (LTC) nursing associations Read More »

How to keep the nursing in long-term care facilities

It's no secret that the United States has a nursing shortage, one that promises to grow to alarming proportions—particularly in this country's Read More »

Advancing Excellence in Pain Assessment (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1 of Advancing Excellence in Pain AssessmentScreening  Screening all residents for pain is the baseline step in the Read More »

Advancing Excellence in Pain Assessment (Part 1)

Every resident has the right to be pain free and this can only be accomplished through an effective pain management program. Every long-term care Read More »

The case for care transparency

When the new Congress gets down to business early next year, organizations representing the nursing home community will be confronted with two Read More »

“Empower With Choice”

Effective January 1, 2007, we were mandated by the state of Florida to increase CNA staffing to a ratio of 2:9. Like many others across the state, Read More »

Flu season

As flu season approaches, Long-Term Living magazine asked board-certified geriatrician Jonathan Musher, MD, CMD, president of Metropolitan Read More »

Green Hat…Is it for you?

Most everyone is familiar with the “Red Hat Society,” a society of women “of a certain age” who get together to embrace the present and future with Read More »

Resident care process

Quality of care deficiencies can be devastating in any nursing home: devastating to the resident, who can suffer a decline in health status or even Read More »

What is art therapy?

The 10 benefits of art therapy: 1. Cognitive memory function significantly improves, especially short-term memory. We Read More »

Group effort makes hospice house a reality

In a tranquil setting overlooking 9.5-acres of virgin woodlands in Duluth, Minnesota, sits a $4 million, 12-bed hospice house. Inside, original oil Read More »

Was the medication given?

Errors in medication administration are all too common in healthcare facilities, a fact that's documented in many medical journals and studies. In Read More »

Evidence-based skin tear protocol

A common experience: Aresident's daughter comes to the front office wanting to see the administrator. She reports her mother has very fragile skin, Read More »

Make way for the therapeutic harp

Music touches everyone in a very personal way and offers diverse beneficial effects. Just as a person experiences the various rhythms of life, the Read More »

Facility for vision-impaired residents

The new community can accommodate 38 residents in private and semiprivate rooms, along with community space featuring public and private areas Read More »

More life in their years

It's no secret we're living longer these days. Medical science has made advances that have improved overall health, quality of life, and longevity Read More »