A recent study, published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing, looks at how the level of education about pressure sore prevention among nursing home staff affects the level of care provided to residents. The article, titled “Pressure ulcers: knowledge and attitude of nurses and nursing assistants in Belgian nursing homes”,…
Although it has always been required by law, many patients are unaware that health care facilities are required to provide them with access to their own medical records. The director of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights has recognized this problem and responded by releasing…
Depression is a cognitive disorder that plagues one out of every ten Americans. Osteoporosis a bone disease, is also extremely widespread in the American population. Both are especially common in the elderly, and recently, researchers believe they may have found a link between the two. An article published in the…
Caring for the elderly is no easy task. While some elderly adults require acute care in skilled nursing facilities, others remain at home, often living with their children. Regardless of where they live, caregivers often experience burnout due to the high levels of stress encountered when caring for the elderly.…
Antipsychotic drugs, intended to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, are the most commonly abused class of drugs in Los Angeles nursing homes. Despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that using antipsychotic drugs to treat dementia patients can be fatal, one in four California nursing home residents…
Osteoporosis is an common bone disease, especially in women over the age of fifty. While many medications have proven to be effective in the treatment of osteoporosis, recent studies link a class of drugs called biphosphonates to thigh fractures. Two examples of biphosphonates that are used to treat osteoporosis are…
When it was first adopted, Medicare’s ‘no-pay’ rule was a controversial topic in the world of healthcare. Under the ‘no-pay’ rule, healthcare facilities are not eligible to receive Medicare funding for treatment of conditions acquired within the facility. However, this rule has actually proven to be beneficial to improving quality…
Recently, the Wall Street Journal published several articles about the maintenance of physical health through old age. One article, published in the “Health Matters” column discusses how to stay healthy even through old age. The article specifies middle age as the critical time to prevent physical decline. Although it may…
A recent article titled “Caring for elders: the role of registered nurses in nursing homes” emphasized the great importance of staffing a sufficient amount of registered nurses (RNs) in nursing homes. The article refers to RNs as the “linchpin” of nursing homes as they are expected to organize innovative activities,…
Medication is intended to improve the quality of a patient’s life by reducing uncomfortable symptoms or by curing a disease. However, taking more medication does not equal to receiving more benefits. In fact, the consequences of using too many medications at once, or polypharmacy, can be extremely harmful and counterproductive.…