Recent research has been conducted to explain why the elderly population may be at higher risk for pressure ulcer development. Our skin functions as a defensive barrier against physical and chemical trauma and disease. However, research has uncovered correlations between skin changes that occur with age which may serve as…
A government shutdown took place Tuesday morning on October 1, 2013, due to Congress’ failure to pass a 2014 spending measure before the midnight deadline on Monday. The shutdown has resulted in about 800,000 federal employees being furloughed, allowing only for ‘essential’ government workers to continue performance of their duties.…
A recent investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting revealed that the California Department of Public Health dismissed about 1,000 pending cases in 2009 which alleged caretaker abuse and theft, without taking any action. This hurried dismissal of cases occurred to alleviate the Department’s extreme backlog of cases. These closed…
It is not uncommon for the elderly to need the assistance of multiple medications to maintain their health. However, as the number of medications being taken increases, so does the risk involved. A study conducted by the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine finds…
It is no secret that taking care of the elderly in a nursing home is an incredibly important role that carries with it responsibilities of magnanimous proportions. In addition to offering physical aid to avoid falls and encourage mobility through physical exercises, nurses must also build rapport with their residents…
A 2013 study conducted by BioMed Central Geriatrics found that there is a strong positive correlation between pain and disruptive behaviors displayed by the elderly suffering from dementia. It explains that such behavior is often expressed through aggression or agitation, which increases these patients’ risk for injuries and hospitalizations. In…
According to an article in Bloomberg News, the for-profit private nursing home industry overbills Medicare by 1.5 billion dollars a year by conducting unnecessary procedures and therapy on their patients. This, however, is not the only way that for-profit nursing homes have been using unlawful methods to increase profits. Nursing…
Although Californians fortunately were not directly affected by Hurricane Sandy, the disaster poses many implications for disaster preparedness in the health care industry. A recent article published by the New England Journal of Medicine titled “Disaster Resilience and People with Functional Needs” discusses strategies that can be used by the…
Nursing homes and hospitals around the world have long operated on experience-based pay scales. Only recently, however, have various hospitals begun adopting performance-based payroll systems to improve the quality of care. The results are especially crucial for American health providers, who will move towards pay for performance in 2013 when…
The Care Quality Commission recently published a report called “The state of health care and adult social care in England” that reveals problems that are universal to long-term care facilities. The report concluded that three factors can be linked to low quality of care in nursing homes: a culture where…