Retention and Turnover McKnight’s reported on staffing challenges in the nursing home industry. Staffing problems have plagued long-term care operators for decades. It has gotten even worse this year during the coronavirus pandemic. Experts predict unsafe staffing will continue as the crisis further progresses this year. The ongoing shortage of caregivers will harm nursing homes
Herd Immunity The White House confirmed that it is adopting the inhumane herd immunity strategy. Trump wrongly believes that if people get infected and survive, they will be immune and society will reach “herd immunity.” Herd immunity is also known as the “let people die” strategy. The strategy involves deliberately letting the novel coronavirus spread
The State reported on South Carolina’s record nursing home deaths during the pandemic. As a nursing home neglect lawyer, I have seen poor care in South Carolina’s nursing homes for decades. The pandemic made it worse. A new AARP report concludes nursing homes in my home state has more deaths among nursing home vulnerable adults.
Point of Care Tests Another catastrophe. The Trump administration expanded cheap testing in long-term care settings sending thousands of point-of-care testing systems to nursing homes. The goal was to allow facilities to quickly detect new Covid-19 cases among residents and staff. The effort to arm nursing homes with rapid coronavirus tests is failing because the tests
CANDIDA AURIS The New York Times had an article about A deadly fungus in nursing homes. Candida auris is a highly contagious, drug-resistant deadly fungus. It has infected nearly 800 people in the last four years, with half of patients dying within 90 days. C. auris is a germ so virulent and hard to eradicate that
Priorities Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared that nursing home residents and staff members will receive the vaccine first. The Baltimore Sun reported Hogan spoke at the headquarters for vaccine developer Novavax Inc. Of course, the safety group has yet to vote on who gets priority. However, it makes sense to prioritize the most vulnerable