Research Links Nursing Home Staffing to Death from Viral Gastroenteritis

Low staffing levels in nursing homes have long been linked to adverse outcomes such as pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections (UTIs), weight loss, dehydration, and deterioration in ADL’s, but new research published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American...

Teaching America How to Assess Wounds

Last week I presented at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Train-the-Trainer program in Las Vegas for the introduction of Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 which will go into effect October 1, 2010.  This assessment tool will impact 17,000 nursing homes...

Long Term Care Preparing for MDS 3.0

Guest Post by Elizabeth A. Ayello, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, CWON, MAPWCA, FAAN. Are you ready for the changes in MDS 3.0, Section M: Skin Condition? Having just developed the slide materials and provided the instruction on this for the CMS “Train the Trainer” programs in...

Nursing Home Care in Australia

I recently spoke on geriatrics, humanistic medicine, and art at The International Arts and Health Conference in Port Macquarie, Australia.  Because I spent so much of my medical career in long-term care, I sought out the opportunity to visit a nursing home to speak...