Tag: GeroNursePrep

National Assisted Living Week 2022 Celebrates “Joyful Moments”

​​​America’s assisted living communities will participate in National Assisted Living Week® (NALW) September 11-17, 2022. The national observance—which begins each year on National Grandparents’ Day and is supported this year by official sponsor First Quality—honors the individuals who reside, work, and volunteer in assisted living and residential care communities with special activities and events.
Created by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) in 1995, this year’s NALW theme – “Joyful Moments” – reflects the strong connection between residents and staff and encourages them to join with their families and local communities to celebrate and create happy memories. This week also provides the opportunity to educate communities across the country about this sector of long term care and the dedicated, hardworking caregivers.
Visit www.nalw.org to view the 2022 NALW Planning Guide for ideas on how to celebrate, access NALW graphics and logos, purchase NALW products, and take advantage of the digital toolkit to promote your events with media and in your community.

Stay Current on Resident and Staff COVID-19 Vaccinations

As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise throughout the country, it’s important that long term care facilities and communities encourage staff and residents to stay up to date on their vaccination status. The CDC defines up to date as having received all doses in the primary series and all boosters recommended, when eligible. Most recently, people over 50 are recommended to receive a second booster of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at least four months after their first booster.

Find out more by going to https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Blog/Pages/Stay-Current-on-Resident-and-Staff-COVID-19-Vaccinations-.aspx

AHCA/NCAL’s Gero Nurse Prep Spring Sale Ends May 31!

Don’t miss your chance to save $200 off the AHCA/NCAL’s Gero Nurse Prep course with promo code QUALITYRN22 (all caps).

Find out what Gero Nurse Prep can do for you by going to https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Blog/Pages/Gero-Nurse-Prep-is-On-Sale-and-Delivers-the-Knowledge-That-Can-Improve-Outcomes.aspx

Gero Nurse Prep is On Sale and Delivers the Knowledge That Can Improve Outcomes!

Save $200 off the AHCA/NCAL’s Gero Nurse Prep course through May 31, 2022, with promo code QUALITYRN22 (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 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)
  • 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
  • Significantly lower rates of off-label use of antipsychotics
  • Significantly higher average SNF Value Based Purchasing scores (44.17 versus 34.42 for the nation).

National Nurses Month Continues

The American Nurses Association selected the evergreen theme, Nurses Make a Difference to honor the varying roles of nurses and their positive impact on our lives. As part of the celebration, they’ve divided the month into four weekly focus areas — Self-Care, Recognition, Professional Development, and Community Engagement, and provided resources for each week.

Find out more at https://nursesmonth.org/about-nurses-month/

Hot and Relevant Topics Covered at 2022 Quality Summit

​Programming for the 2022 AHCA/NCAL Quality Summit is designed for quality practitioners at all levels. From sessions showcasing innovative practices of providers across the country and peer-to-peer idea exchanges, to new solutions from sponsor partners and dynamic keynote speakers, you will leave with fresh ideas that you can implement as soon as you return to your centers and communities. Attendees can earn up to 11 CEs.

The deadline to register is May 5, so don’t delay! 

CMS Releases Revised Guidance on Vaccine Mandate IFR

CMS has released revised interpretive guidance for the COVID-19 vaccine mandate interim final rule (IFR). Three memoranda have been updated, including QSO-22-07-ALL-Revised, QSO-22-09-ALL-Revised, and QSO-22-11-ALL-Revised.
The revisions were made to clarify the expectations for assessing compliance with the requirement to ensure all staff are vaccinated. AHCA/NCAL has highlighted key revisions below, but providers are encouraged to review the Long-Term Care and Skilled Nursing Facility Attachment A-Revised, as well as the applicable memo listed above, for detailed changes.

CDC Releases Nursing Home Communication Toolkit

The CDC recently released a Nursing Home Communication toolkit to help nursing home health care professionals better communicate with residents and families on antibiotic treatment expectations. Pressure from family members to prescribe antibiotics to nursing home residents when they may not be needed has been identified as an opportunity for providers to engage in discussion around appropriate antibiotic use.

The toolkit reviews a four-part communication strategy which has been effective in improving antibiotic prescribing in outpatient settings. Two nursing home-specific scenarios applying these principles are also provided.

AHCA/NCAL Highlights Nursing Home Quality Improvements Over The Past Decade

The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) released a new report today highlighting data that shows the quality of care in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) has been on an upward trend in the 10 years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Information collected by the federal government proves that industry-wide efforts to raise the standard of care have benefited long term care residents across the country.

Key findings from the report include:

  • Nursing homes welcomed approximately 3.5 million admissions from hospitals each year for the past decade, and nearly two-thirds of those patients were able to return home after receiving rehabilitation therapy from SNFs.
  • Since 2011, 8.7 percent fewer residents were sent to the hospital during their nursing home stays.
  • On average, nurses were putting in an additional 198 total hours of care per nursing home each quarter.

One out of three nursing homes received four or five stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for staffing.

Fewer than one in seven nursing home residents are receiving antipsychotic medication – a 40 percent decline since 2011.

Nursing homes improved on 19 out of the 22 quality outcomes measured by CMS.

Read more at https://www.providermagazine.com/Breaking-News/Pages/AHCA-NCAL-Highlights-Nursing-Home-Quality-Improvements.aspx

The full Nursing Home Quality Improvement report is available HERE.