May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and AAPACN recognizes the struggles long-term care professionals are facing right now to keep their mental health balanced during to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses may be feeling stressed, tired, overwhelmed, or depressed by the hard decisions they must make every day and the situations …
Almost 200 years ago, physicians discovered that deadly pathogens were transmitted from patient to patient via the hands of nurses and physicians, and that washing hands between appointments with patients would dramatically reduce the mortality rate (World Health Organization, 2009). While tremendous strides in hand hygiene compliance have been made …
AAPACN joins coalition in urging Congress to enact temporary and targeted liability relief legislation related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Read full letter.
Quickly identifying and communicating relevant changes of condition to clinicians (e.g., physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants) has long been a challenge for many nursing homes. However, timely, efficient notifications are more critical than ever during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic because directors of nursing services (DNSs) have to guard against …
Question: I am a relatively new DNS and my job description includes overseeing the Therapy Department. Is this within my scope? Answer: In most SNFs, the therapy department usually has its own director/manager, with ultimate oversight by the administrator. But in smaller facilities, such as yours, sometimes those oversight roles are shared. …
Interim Final Rule Updating Requirements for Notification of Confirmed and Suspected COVID-19 Cases Among Residents and Staff in Nursing Homes Memo # QSO-20-29-NH Posting Date 2020-05-06 Fiscal Year 2020 Summary • CMS is committed to taking critical steps to ensure America’s healthcare facilities are prepared to respond to the …
This Nurse’s Week, we honor four rising stars in long-term and post-acute care. The AAPACN Education Foundation positively impacts the lives of 1.4 million people living in nursing homes by providing scholarships for nurses seeking their RN license and degrees in nursing. In 2020, the AAPACN Education Foundation awarded more …
To bill under traditional fee-for-service Medicare Part A, skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) must obtain appropriate, timely physician certifications and recertifications of posthospital inpatient extended-care services. The physician cert/recert policy did not change with the implementation of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) on October 1, 2019. However, the Centers for Medicare …
