Important CMS Updates for Skilled Nursing Facilities

AAPACN’s mission is to support the professional development, empowerment, and success of members with resources. We especially want to provide that support during the current COVID-19 emergency. Federal guidance is rapidly developing and changing. AAPACN and partner organizations are developing tools and resources to help you care for patients, protect …

TIP: New Resource to Improve Healthcare Safety

Lucian Leap just released a new book called Making Healthcare Safe. This free, downloadable book discusses ways a skilled nursing facility can implement a culture of safety by changing processes, working conditions, and communication in order to make the facility as safe as possible for both residents and staff. For …

Morning Stand-Up Meeting Minutes Tool

Morning stand-up is meant to be a brief meeting (15 minutes or less) to exchange information that affects the operations of multiple departments on that given day. The information exchanged should be shared with the intent of facilitating connection among all departments and coordinating operations. Facility leaders can utilize this …

Q&A: Where can I find resources to help our facility prevent and manage sepsis?

Question: Where can I find resources to help our facility prevent and manage sepsis? Answer: TMF, a Quality Improvement Organization, offers a free toolkit called the Sepsis Post-Acute Care Training Toolkit for Nursing Homes. This toolkit educates nursing home staff, residents, and families about the early identification of sepsis in …

Q&A: Would you code a positive nasal swab for MRSA as a multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) in section I?

Question: Would you code a positive nasal swab for MRSA as a multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) in section I? Answer from Heide Keen, RN, BSN, RAC-CT: Most often, we find that MRSA of nares is colonized and not considered actively infectious, and not being medically treated. It all depends on the …

Book: Making Healthcare Safe (10/21)

Electronic access (PDF) to this book is free with IHI membership (also free). ​​​​​​​Leape LL. Making Healthcare Safe. Springer; 2021. Written by Lucian ​Leape, a pioneer of t​he patient safety movement, this book describes how patient safety became recognized as an important problem, the underlying science, and the efforts to implement changes. The …

Study: Short-term and Long-term Rates of Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (10/21)

Findings  In this systematic review of 57 studies comprising more than 250 000 survivors of COVID-19, most sequelae included mental health, pulmonary, and neurologic disorders, which were prevalent longer than 6 months after SARS-CoV-2 exposure. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(10):e2128568. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.28568 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2784918

Addressing Healthcare-Associated Infections in the Nursing Home with Laurie Laxton

In this podcast, Amy Stewart, MSN, RN, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, vice president of education and certification strategy for AAPACN, and Laurie Laxton, RN, BSN, CCFA, RAC-CT, IP-BC, QCP, clinical education program lead with ABILITY Network, discuss healthcare associated infections (HAIs) in the nursing home and thoughts on how to …

CMS MDS Item O0100 Web-Based Training (10/21)

NEW TRAINING AVAILABLE – Section O: O0100. Special Procedures, Treatments, and Programs Web-Based Training for SNFs The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training course that provides an overview of the assessment and coding of Section O: O0100. Special Procedures, Treatments, and Programs. This 30-minute …