Tag: GeroNursePrep.com

CMS Issues Letter on the Importance of COVID-19 Staff Vaccinations

​Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure issued a letter to health care facility administrators on the importance of COVID-19 staff vaccinations and the current CMS requirements. CMS recommends that facilities review the vaccine rule guidance released on December 28, 2021; January 14, 2022​; and January 20, ​2022 for additional information.

https://www.cms.gov/files/document/health-care-facility-administrator-covid-19-vaccine-letter.pdf

CMS Adds Staffing Measures to Five Star Rating System

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted QSO memo 22-08-NH last week indicating that it will begin posting staffing turnover and weekend staffing levels for each nursing home on the Medicare.gov Care Compare website​ in January and add the measures to staffing domain of Five Star Rating system in July 2022.
  • Weekend Staffing: The level of total nurse (RN, LPN & CNA) and registered nurse (RN) staffing on weekends provided by each nursing home over a quarter.  This will be reported as average hours worked per resident per day on weekends.
  • Staff Turnover:
    • ​The percent of RN staff that left the facility over the last year.
    • The percent of total nurse staff that have left the facility over the last year.
    • The number of administrators that have left the facility over the last year.
The technical specifications for weekend staffing and staff turnover measures will be included in the Five Star Rating System Technical Users’ Guide on January 14, 2022.

Find out more at https://bit.ly/3Ai2VLo

RN Huddle – Treat the Nurse Part 2

In this podcast, we welcome back Ashleigh Boyd. Ashleigh founded the “Treat the Nurse” program, found at https://www.treatthenurse.com, to help nurses with burnout and compassion fatigue. In this episode Ashleigh is once again joined by host Heidi Keeler and they are focusing not only on burnout but also secondary stress and how to (once again) combat it.

Nurses, that self-care is important and remember to take care of yourselves as well as you take care of your patients. Keep up the good work and we can’t wait to keep you up-to-date on everything nursing in 2022!!

https://rnhuddle.unmc.edu/treat-the-nurse-part-2/

Keep Safety and Compliance in Mind When Decorating for the Holiday

Celebrating the holidays in a healthcare organization can be an uplifting experience for both residents and staff. However, decorating can oftentimes lead to some unintended consequences. Here are some quick tips to help ensure your organization maintains a safe environment that is compliant with the Life Safety Code® this holiday season:
  • ​Combustible decorations are only permitted if they are flame retardant or when they are in limited quantities such that the hazard of fire development and spread is not present.  For example, a handful of holiday cards attached to a door can be considered a limited quantity. A door completely covered with holiday cards could be considered excessive. Section 19.7.5.6 of the 2012 edition of the Life Safety Code® outlines the combustible decorations requirements in detail.
  • ​Live Christmas trees are not permitted. Living trees in a balled condition with their roots protected in soil shall be permitted if they are maintained in a fresh condition and not allowed to become dry.
  • Artificial Christmas trees are only permitted if they are labeled or identified as “flame retardant” or “flame resistive”. There are products that can be applied to artificial trees to meet this requirement.
  • Use only UL listed holiday lights and wiring.
  • Do not visually block egress, exit signage or any fire safety equipment with decorations. This includes fire alarm pull stations, visual fire alarm notification devices and fire extinguishers.
  • Do not hang decorations from sprinkler heads.
  • Do not use flame producing decorations including candles.
  • Do not use extension cords to power decorations.
Finally, monitor decorations that are brought into the facility by residents, families and friends. Ensure anything electric is UL listed, is not heat producing and does not involve candles/flames. Otherwise, enjoy the decorations and the resulting holiday spirit!
Questions? Please contact lifesafety@ahca.org.

AHCA/NCAL’s Premier Gerontological Nurse Training On Sale Now!

Save $200 off the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living’s Gero Nurse Prep course through November 15 with promo code INSPIRE21 (all caps). Specifically designed for registered nurses working in long term care, this curriculum provides comprehensive online training that leads to board certification in gerontological nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for RNs.
Research released by AHCA/NCAL in 2019 found compelling reasons to consider the AHCA/NCAL’s Gero Nurse Prep course and ANCC Board certification for RNs. Nursing facilities with at least one ANCC Board certified RN experienced:
  • ​Two fewer deficiencies on average (5.71 citations versus the 7.55 national average in last cycle)
  • Fewer Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) citations (1.60 versus the 2.27 national average)
  • More stars — nearly twice as likely to be a CMS 5-Star facility (50% versus the 28% national average)
  • Significantly lower re-hospitalization rates over the previous six years
  • Significantly lower rates of off-label use of antipsychotics over the previous five years
  • Significantly higher average SNF Value Based Purchasing scores (44.17 versus 34.42 for the nation).
Gero Nurse Prep makes a big difference even for those RNs who are not interested in pursuing ANCC Board certification. Nurses who complete Gero Nurse Prep show an average 24 percent increase between their pre- and post-course test scores. Quite simply, Gero Nurse Prep delivers smarter RNs who are better prepared to deliver quality geriatric nursing care in skilled nursing and assisted living settings. Both two-year RNs and BSNs can take the Gero Nurse Prep course and sit for the ANCC exam.
RNs have one year to complete Gero Nurse Prep and earn 30 quality nursing contact hours – enough to meet the criteria for taking the ANCC certification exam. Gero Nurse Prep grads who choose to sit for the ANCC gerontological nursing certification exam ($395 separate fee paid to ANCC) have a pass rate of 95% on their first try. RNs who pass the ANCC exam can then use the GERO-BC™ credential after their RN credential.
Watch this video or visit the website at geronurseprep.com to learn more about this online program designed to help RNs increase their geriatric nursing skills and to pass the ANCC exam. Don’t forget to use the INSPIRE21 promo code when you register by November 15 to save $200 off the regular $790 Gero Nurse Prep registration fee.

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Online Training to Become Board Certified!

Gero Nurse Prep is an online training course designed to prepare RNs who care for elders to attain board certification in Gerontological Nursing by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). This course equips RNs with a broad array of clinical knowledge, skills and competencies that are tested on the ANCC certification exam and essential for quality gerontological nursing practice and leadership of elder care teams.

To find out more:

Watch this short video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvKXcs-NO2o

Visit our website at https://www.geronurseprep.com/

Contact us at concne@unmc.edu for additional information or to answer any questions you might have.