During a June alfresco lunch at my sister's, my brother-in-law remarked that local produce was delicious and would be for the entire summer. He asked if the nursing facility ever bought local produce. I told him the facility buys produce from a food supplier to guarantee it has been inspected by the Department of Agriculture. He gave...

We have a few residents here whose families do their laundry. However, some families do not realize how much laundry a resident can use in a few days. Many times clothing is not returned to the resident quickly enough. Last week a female resident had to wear her pajamas during the daytime. When I asked the aide...

A simple Google search for long-term care design key words results in the following:

My room was last painted five years ago. It is supposed to be a cookie dough type of color, but it looks a bit darker than that. It was quite a change from the white, semi-gloss paint that was on my walls before.

Artwork has been slowly changing in assisted living communities from paintings of children and puppies to a more sophisticated pallet of abstracts, graphics, landscapes, etc. But maybe we have gone too far in trying to make assisted living interiors relevant and hip. Creating a Crate & Barrel interior leaves...

When I first came here, many residents had small refrigerators. The staff made a point to tell me that I could purchase one and put it in my room. I did not see much need for one since there was a small refrigerator in the clean utility room where I could keep my salad dressing. I did not want anything else that...

Many skilled nursing facilities have made great efforts to reduce the use of restraints on residents. The reduction in restraint usage was

Filling an MDS coordinator position can be a daunting task. There are numerous factors to consider when hiring someone for the job. The wrong hire can cause a huge financial decrease, high risk for audit, and take months if not years to correct. Below are five keys to filling this difficult...