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The National Association of Health Care Assistants is a non-profit
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New Coalition Working To
Improve
Quality of Life for
Nursing Home Residents and Staff
As America's 77 million baby boomers begin
turning 60 this year, a new, broad-based coalition of long-term care
providers, caregivers, medical and quality improvement experts,
government agencies, and consumers launched an initiative to improve
quality of care and quality of life for the country's 1.5 million
nursing home residents.
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Coalition to Protect Senior Care: Bush
Budget Plan Dangerous to Seniors’ Front Line Care Needs
In New Letter,
Direct Care Workers Urge Senators Baucus and Grassley to Stop Bush
Medicare Cuts
Joplin, MO (February 7, 2008) – In response to the Bush
Administration’s budget plan cutting U.S. seniors’ Medicare-financed
nursing home care by $17 billion over five years, the Coalition to
Protect Senior Care (CPSC) today called the proposal “dangerous to
seniors’ front line care needs,” and announced at a news briefing
that they will launch a new effort to stop the funding reductions,
similar to the campaign waged last fall when the Coalition
successfully opposed efforts to cut Medicare Part A nursing home
benefits. The CPSC also released a new letter, delivered today to
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking
Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), urging them to fight the cuts.
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NAHCA
introduces
Career Ladder through
Academy of Certified Health Professionals.
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Health Care
News |
National Nursing Home Week May 11-17,
2008
National Nursing Home Week begins on
Mother's Day, May 11, 2008 and continues
through May 17, 2008. AHCA established
the week-long celebration in 1967.
Activities are designed to foster
intergenerational relationships, collect
and preserve patient's reminiscences,
strengthen relationships with family
members, celebrate quality, and
recognize all staff members who
demonstrate excellent care giving.
Candidates' Views on Long-Term Care Are
a National and State Issue
AHCA
is working to elevate the issue of
long-term care into the debate of the
presidential candidates. The
billboard below is appearing in New
Hampshire and Iowa as part of that
strategy. Through a variety of forums,
the entire profession has the
opportunity to shine a light on
our issues and to ask
direct questions as to how the
candidates will plan for the long-term
care needs of everyone’s mom.
As
the national focus on health care
increases, it presents you with the
opportunity to ask your legislators
about their plan for long-term care in
your state.
Let’s build on the momentum.
Legislators need to hear from you; they
need to see your facility; they need to
talk with your staff. And you need to
hear their response to long-term care
issues.
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Study shows dramatic rise in short-stay
residents
A new analysis of
trends in New York nursing home care reads like
a summary of what is happening around the
country. In short: more shorter stays for
residents, as well as more sicker or cognitively
impaired residents.
Ten-year trends for New York's nursing homes
(1996 to 2005) showed that, despite lower
average occupancy rates (from 96.9% down to
93.2%), the annual number of nursing home
admissions per bed more than doubled (0.78 to
1.76).
Also, the number of residents staying less than
two months tripled, according to the report,
which was released Tuesday by the United
Hospital Fund released.
"The trends do not appear to be showing signs of
slowing," said James R. Tallon, Jr., president
of the United Hospital Fund.
Professor Thomas Dennison of the Center for
Policy Research at Syracuse University's Maxwell
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs wrote
the report for the Medicaid Institute at United
Hospital Fund
Antibiotics for advanced dementia patients
questioned
Nearly half of
advanced-dementia residents in nursing homes
receive antibiotics during the last two weeks of
life, but it remains unclear whether such
treatment helps, authors of a new study say.
Pain from administering the drugs intravenously,
as well as unwanted side effects, are among the
chief concerns.
"This extensive use of antimicrobials and
pattern of antimicrobial management in advanced
dementia raises concerns not only with respect
to individual treatment burden near the end of
life but also with respect to the development
and spread of antimicrobial resistance in the
nursing home setting," report authors wrote. As
a result, the Harvard-affiliated researchers
recommend "development of programs and
guidelines designed to reduce the use of
antimicrobial agents in advanced dementia."
Study findings appeared in Monday's edition of
the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The study followed 200 Boston nursing home
residents with dementia for about 18 months.
Nearly three-fourths of the five million
Americans with dementia will require nursing
home care. Commonly complicating their stays are
repeated infections and fevers, experts said,
adding that more research is needed to learn
whether physicians ultimately should consider
not recommending antibiotics. Alternatives such
as oxygen or Tylenol could be better courses of
treatment, according to one expert.
New bill would help boost LTC workforce
March 27, 2008
Long-term care
providers are hoping that the U.S. Senate will
pass a new bill aimed at enhancing recruitment
and retention of direct care workers in the
long-term care field.
The Caring for an Aging America Act of 2008
would provide a number of incentives to attract
healthcare workers to the long-term care field.
Among them: loan repayment programs for
physicians, psychologists, physician assistants,
clinical nurse specialists, nurse practitioners
and social workers who agree to work for two
years in a long-term care setting. The bill also
would expand the Career Ladder Grants Program to
include specialty training in long-term care
fields. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced the
bill earlier this month.
The American Health Care Association and
National Center for Assisted Living have offered
their support to help pass the legislation.
Medicaid bill may run afoul of pay-as-you-go
rules
April 02, 2008
A bill that would
postpone seven onerous Medicaid regulations
could collapse as a result of recently enacted
legislative rules.
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) introduced a bill last
month that would place a moratorium on these
regulations by one year. But the bill could cost
$1.65 billion in fiscal years 2008 and 2009,
according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Pay-as-you-go rules, which went into effect last
year, require that lawmakers couple proposals
that cost money with legislation that would
reduce spending or raise funds of an equal
amount.
The Medicaid regulations, several of which are
scheduled to take effect in coming weeks and
months, would restrict Medicaid payments to
publicly-owned nursing homes and hospitals and
limit coverage of rehabilitation services for
people with disabilities. They could reduce
federal payments to states by $50 billion over
the next five years, according to a U.S. House
committee's report.
Professionals announce new leadership coalition
April 11, 2007
Long-term care
organizations representing four professions have
united to create a new coalition: The Long Term
Care Professional Leadership Council.
Months in the making, the council formally
announced its creation in late February. Members
will identify and promote comprehensive
approaches to defining and meeting quality
standards, officials said.
"Long-term care stakeholders really have to sit
down and work together and accept some general
truths to push us further," said one council
member.
The council's goals include: advancing
consistent standards, positions and
recommendations; promoting evidence-based
cross-disciplinary protocols for care and
operational issues; and overcoming political,
social and economic obstacles to coordinated,
consistent care.
Leaders of the four groups have met to carefully
plan first steps. They include (left to right in
the photo above) Charlotte Eliopoulos, interim
executive director of the National Association
Directors of Nursing Administration Long-Term
Care; Robert Siebel, education committee
chairman of the American College of Health Care
Administrators; Sherrie Dornberger, NADONA
president; and Ron Romano, NADONA director of
operations.
Also, Marianna Grachek, ACHCA president and CEO;
Steve Levenson, then-president of the American
Medical Directors Association; Lorraine Tarnove,
AMDA executive director; and Thomas R. Clark,
director of policy and advocacy for the American
Society of Consultant Pharmacists.
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Audiences across the country ask, "How can we get Lori in our facility?"
Ask no more! PEP Talks is a series of 15 minute presentations designed to
motivate and inspire your workforce.
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Geriatric
Care Specialist Certification
An independent study program, this
correspondence course gives nursing assistants the opportunity to
upgrade skills, education, and professional self-esteem.
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