Skilled Nursing
Articles
Resources to Manage 2025 SOM Updates
2025 changes to the State Operations Manual (SOM) affect key areas such as psychotropic use, infection prevention, and admissions. Use our resources — articles, Compliance Cues, webinar recordings, and more — to help your staff understand the changes and prepare for surveys.
Expert Insights: Barry Slotnick, Executive Director at Wachusett Healthcare
Barry Slotnick’s energy and visionary spirit have helped him transform challenges into opportunities. Learn more about his approach to ensuring quality, innovation for best practices, and building the future of skilled nursing.
4 Steps to Successful Opioid Stewardship
Older adults are at high risk for opioid use disorder. They may also experience more severe side effects, such as falls, depression, and anxiety, and even an increased risk of developing dementia. This infographic provides 4 steps you can take to get started with effective opioid stewardship.
5 Facts About Unnecessary Antibiotics
As antibiotic use increases, so does antibiotic resistance, which can put the health of your residents at risk. Learn five facts that can help you and your team improve antibiotic use while preventing unnecessary or inappropriate prescribing of these medications.
3 Steps to Medication Optimization
90% of long-term care residents take more than 5 medications. These complex regimens can lead to polypharmacy, adverse events, and hospitalizations. Learn 3 steps to implementing a sustainable approach to medication optimization that can mitigate these issues while also improving health outcomes.
6 Tips for CGM Success
Continuous glucose monitors, or CGMs, are not only a more comfortable option for residents, but also a time saver for staff. Learn more about how this technology can enhance care, training staff to use it, and introducing it to residents and families.
Antibiotic Stewardship Program Checklist
An effective antibiotic stewardship program is essential to helping prevent drug-resistant infections and avoiding an F-Tag 881 citation. Use this checklist to see how well your program meets CMS requirements, including policies and procedures, reporting, and communications.
Nonpharmacologic Management of Behavioral Issues
Staff turnover, misconceptions about psychotropics, and confusing regulations can make focusing on nonpharmacologic approaches a challenge. Learn 6 key steps to create a culture that prioritizes nonpharmacologic strategies to manage behavioral issues.
Embedding QAPI in the Culture to Combat Staffing Challenges
When embedded into your organization’s culture, your QAPI — Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement — program does more than satisfy CMS requirements — it can help prevent burnout, improve morale, and drive loyalty.
Preparedness Can Help Make Disasters Less Stressful
Natural disasters can happen at any time, sometimes without warning. Learn how your pharmacy can help you ensure essential medications are available if disaster strikes.
Managing Payment and Regulatory Risk: MDS 1.19.1
The balancing act of managing payments and regulatory risk requires flexibility, agility, and planning. Our new guide provides insights, tips, and updates to help you meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities.
Is Psychotropic Use Justified?
Psychotropic stewardship is key to protecting resident health and well-being, as well as avoiding citations and fines. Learn 5 questions to ask to ensure appropriate psychotropic use, plus how an effective stewardship program can help you find the answers.
Infection Prevention Guide: Challenges, Opportunities, and Best Practices
Infection prevention and control can be a serious challenge in long-term care settings. This comprehensive guide provides tips on preventing the spread of infections, advice on managing outbreaks, and a checklist to help you stay survey ready.
Infection Prevention: Continuing the Journey on a Rocky Road
Even with the innovations implemented during the pandemic, infection control continues to be a challenge for long-term care facilities. Learn the steps facilities can take to maximize infection prevention and control to minimize outbreaks.
Leveraging your Consultant Pharmacist for Savings
The high number of prescription medications seniors take, combined with annual price inflation and increasing acuity, creates a recipe for rising pharmacy spend. Learn how your consultant pharmacist can be a valuable ally in reducing costs.
3 Steps to Increased Staff Satisfaction
Workers in health care are especially prone to burnout. To reduce stress and increase satisfaction, evaluating and enhancing workplace culture is essential. Learn how a focus on values, communication, and mindfulness can be the keys to banishing burnout.
6 Ways to Enhance Seniors’ Mental Health
Over the last few years, mental health diagnoses for people over 65 have skyrocketed. Learn 6 ways your community can help residents stay engaged and connected to reduce the impacts of depression, anxiety, and loneliness.
7 Ways to Address Frailty
Recognizing and addressing frailty helps residents live longer and leads to better outcomes. Learn how 7 elements of successful frailty management can help you and your staff improve residents’ quality of life.
5 Steps to Infection Prevention & Control Plan (IPCP) Compliance
Providing a safe and sanitary environment through an infection prevention and control plan is a key requirement for skilled nursing facilities. Learn 5 steps to prevent the transmission of communicable diseases, protect the health of residents and staff, and keep your facility in compliance.
Case Study: Finding a Pharmacy Partner
In this case study, leadership at Volare Health share insights on how the right pharmacy partner can help an organization grow while maintaining high-quality care. Learn how shared values, robust support, and trust all contributed to a successful partnership.
Top Ways to Mitigate Fall Risks
One out of four older adults in the U.S. fall each year. But falls are often preventable and aren’t an inevitable part of aging. Learn 5 ways to help prevent falls and protect the safety of your residents.
4 Steps to Successful Opioid Stewardship
Older adults have an increased risk of developing opioid use disorder (OUD). Learn 4 tips to protect your residents’ health and safety by starting and sustaining effective opioid stewardship.
Q&A: Parkinson’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurologic movement disorder that affects about a million Americans, including more than 5% of LTC residents. In recognition of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, our new Q&A with NADONA highlights the causes, symptoms, and treatments.
6 Keys to Keeping Residents Safe from ADEs
Adverse drug events (ADEs) can be severe or even life threatening. Learn how open communication, vigilance, and technology can help keep residents safe from unnecessary harm.
8 Steps to Manage Your Online Reputation
Your online reputation is critical, and everyone plays a part. Follow these eight tips to help ensure prospective residents, families, job seekers, and legislators see your organization in the best possible light.
6 Tips to Address Incontinence and Reduce Falls
Some form of urinary incontinence affects nearly half of all adults over age 65 and is a key contributor to fall risk. Learn how understanding the signs and causes of urinary incontinence, communicating openly with residents, and having protocols to help guide staff can help keep residents safe.
Q& A with Joshua Segal, SNF Exec Director & Administrator
Joshua Segal, Executive Director & Administrator at Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Providence, Rhode Island, talks about his top concerns, strategies for cost containment and staff retention, and how new technology is supporting nurses and helping keep residents safe.
SGLT2s and GLP-1s and Their Role in Managing Heart Health
Some non-insulin medications are contraindicated in patients with certain cardiac conditions — a fact that can make caring for diabetic residents a challenge. Fortunately, two drug classes have shown to be effective alternatives for those with both diabetes and heart disease. Learn more about these treatment options.
6 Tips to Turn the Tide on Staffing Shortages
Since the pandemic, there have been 420,000 jobs lost in SNF and ALF. Today,
there are more vacancies and a smaller pool to draw from. This infographic, created in partnership with NADONA, provides 6 ways your facility can attract and retain CNAs, staff nurses, and DONs.
5 Tips to Win the War Against Medication Waste
Thousands of tons of medications are flushed down the drain or wind up in landfills every year. Learn how your facility can reduce medication waste in a cost-effective way while maximizing quality of care.