This is a true account of what I found at one of the facilities I took over a couple of years ago.  It demonstrates that one problem can be so much bigger than any of us realize. “A Salmonella outbreak?  How did that happen?” I asked.  (Read below to find out.) I had recently taken over a small facility in a rural Southern town.  The facility had problems and the staff was pretty good at running off administrators and...

I was recently having a conversation with a family member over nursing home staffing.  He was very frustrated that the facility his mother was in would not put another CNA on her hall during the day.  He said that the staff was leaving because they were overloaded. This is a common concern with many families and many nursing home staff members and administrators as well.  What do you do when your budget doesn’t allow you to add...

There are so many wheelchair cushions out there today it can get a bit confusing on which one is the best for your residents.  You’ve got cushions made with eggcrate foam, memory foam, gel, air, water, sand, and everything in between.  As you know, for your residents who are already at risk for skin breakdown – they’re usually the ones who like to sit up for hours on end – a proper pressure reduction cushion is a...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41971124/ns/health-alzheimers_disease/ There’s some huge news for individuals and their families dealing with Alzheimer’s disease!  We may be closing in on a cure quickly.  According to new findings, beta amyloid, the protein (or actually a multi-amino acid peptide) responsible for ”plaque” buildup in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, may actually be produced in the liver. Now,...

Today, we’ll talk about hypersexuality of the nursing home resident when there is no 2 –party consent for sexual advances, and what to do to manage this behavior. In the nursing home industry, you’ll run across it sooner or later.  A little male resident who goes from female resident to female resident attempting to touch, kiss, and grope them inappropriately.  He disrobes in public… or worse.  He tries to go into their...

One of the tricks I came across in marketing nursing homes is to partner with other vendors and providers in the industry.  “Well, that’s not a big secret, Mark.  Everyone knows this,” you might think.  But, do you know how to utilize these relationships? For example, one of the areas my facilities specialize in (because I make sure they specialize in it.  I make sure we get tons of the education, the right supplies,...