Category: Uncategorized

OSHA Announces COVID-19 Focused Inspection Initiative in Health Care

The Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA) announced a time-limited enforcement effort for focused inspections in hospitals, nursing facilities, and assisted living communities treating COVID-19 patients. The intent of this initiative is to magnify OSHA’s presence in health care facilities over a three-month period (March 9- June 9, 2022) to encourage employers in these industry sectors to take the necessary steps to protect their workers against the hazards of COVID-19.

Inspections will be limited to organizations with prior COVID-19-related citations or complaints. Inspections will focus on correction of prior citations and compliance with existing OSHA standards. More detailed information can be found on the OSHA website. ​​​

National Skilled Nursing Care Week – May 8-14

​​​​​​​​​​​​As human beings we have a natural yearning to connect. Studies have linked people with strong social relationships to many aspects of positive health outcomes, especially among older adults.
Skilled nursing care centers and their staff provide a​ steadfast commitment to providing high-level of care for their residents. This has never been more evident than the last two years during the pandemic. In addition to protecting and caring for their residents around the clock during a time of limited visitation and social distancing, staff stepped in and served ​as family members and friends to ensure that residents had the essential social connections they needed.
The 2022 theme for NSNCW, held, May 8-14, will celebrate the essential role that skilled nursing care centers and staff play in Creating and Nurturing Connections for their residents.
Find a planning guide, promotional toolkit and more at https://www.ahcancal.org/Education-Events/Pages/NSNCW.aspx

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.

Creating Seamless Transitions in Challenging Tımes

“The best transition of care is when there is no transition at all.” James Lett, MD, coined this maxim many years ago, and it’s still the mantra of post-acute and long term care providers.

“Of course, sometimes transitions are necessary, so we need to focus on doing this as seamlessly as possible,” says Rajeev Kumar, MD, CMD, FACP, chief medical officer of Symbria in Warrenville, Ill. “Even though we are well into the third decade of meaningful EHR [electronic health record] use, we still have discordant records, and what happens in the hospital doesn’t always filter back to the nursing home, and vice versa.”

Read more at https://bit.ly/3pi1sRG

Gero Nurse Prep will be at the AHCA/NCAL Convention!

We are exhibiting at the AHCA/NCAL Convention & Expo, October 11 – 12, 2021, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center. Come visit us at booth 804 and find out how quality trained RNs increase quality outcomes.

Want to know more now? Visit our website at https://www.geronurseprep.com/

Pandemic Takes its Toll on Sleep

During the pandemic, sleep was in short order for many people. In one survey, 56 percent of U.S. adults said they have experienced more sleep disturbances—ranging from problems falling or staying asleep to having disturbing dreams or nightmares—in the past year and a half. In fact, this has been so common, the phenomenon has been given a name—COVID-somnia.

Pandemic-related sleep issues haven’t discriminated. Young and old people alike report some sleep-related problem. Long term and post-acute care centers not only need to identify and address sleep disturbances in their residents but in their staff as well.

See the full article at https://bit.ly/3DWPXE1

Hitting Reset on Pressure Injury Prevention

The complexities of the COVID-19 public health emergency required skilled nursing facility (SNF) operations to change dramatically and often to save the lives of the most vulnerable population. Through heroic efforts, SNFs transformed clinical systems of care, sometimes in less than a day, to win the war against the pandemic.

While operations and resources shifted to battle COVID-19, unintended consequences emerged—one being greater incidence of pressure injuries. Now that the pandemic is at a turning point, facilities can start to refocus and improve this trend. This article suggests ways to reorient efforts toward preventing and managing pressure injuries.

Read the full article at https://www.providermagazine.com/Monthly-Issue/2021/July/Pages/Hitting-Reset-on-Pressure-Injury-Prevention.aspx

CMS Updates Guidance for Emergency Preparedness Regulations

Today, CMS posted a Quality, Safety, and Oversight Group (QSO) memo updating the State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix Z that outlines emergency preparedness (EP) requirements. The SOM has been updated to reflect the revisions made within the 2019 final rule Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Regulatory Provisions to Promote Program Efficiency, Transparency, and Burden Reduction (CoPs) (CMS 3346-F). CMS has also added new guidance related to Emerging Infectious Diseases (EIDs) outbreaks, including best practices, lessons learned, and general recommendations for planning and preparedness.
This guidance is effective immediately. CMS is currently working on relevant updates to the Emergency Preparedness Basic Surveyor Training Course which will be available at a later date.
The changes are extensive, and members are encouraged to review the complete QSO memo​ in full. AHCA/NCAL has also provided a high-level summar​y​ of the memo.