Template for Care Area Assessment Summary Note

AAPACN’s Template for Care Area Assessment (CAA) Summary Note can help guide the interdisciplinary team members through how to determine and document rationale for the care plan determination by summarizing the underlying causes, contributing factors, risk factors, and other relevant considerations related to the assessment. This AAPACN resource is copyright …

CMS Patient Mood Interview (Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-2 to 9) Video Tutorial

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a video tutorial for completing D0150, Patient Mood Interview (PHQ-2 to 9) and D0160, Total Severity Score. This video depicts two scenarios that demonstrate the coding of the PHQ-2 to 9 for the purposes of completing D0150, Patient Mood Interview (PHQ-2 to …

Care Plan Management and Evaluation Can Be a Skilled Service for At-Risk Residents

The development, management, and evaluation of the resident care plan is the OBRA backbone of the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) process for all residents regardless of payer source, so it may surprise some nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) and directors of nursing (DNSs) to learn that care plan management and evaluation …

How to Use the ICD-10-CM Coding Manual

Since the start of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) in October 2019, the International Classifications of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) has been thrust into the forefront of daily tasks for the nurse assessment coordinator (NAC). ICD codes were always applied in long-term care (before 2015, ICD-9-CM codes were …

Facility Assessment Considerations: A DNS Guide at a Glance

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires the facility assessment be reviewed and updated to determine what resources are needed to care for its residents. AAPACN’s Facility Assessment Considerations: A DNS Guide at a Glance tool supports the DNS to collect and analyze data necessary to develop the nursing …

Improve Staff Retention by Following Hiring Best Practices and Elevating the Onboarding Process

In this podcast, Amy Stewart, MSN, RN, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, chief nursing officer for AAPACN, and Denise Winzeler, BSN, RN, LNHA, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, curriculum development specialist for AAPACN, discuss how the director of nursing services (DNS) can improve staff retention through the onboarding process. Additional Resources:

Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Moral Injury: Keys to Prevention and Mitigation

Protecting and supporting the nursing home workforce is not optional—it is the daily work of managers and leaders, says Patricia McGaffigan, RN, MS, CPPS, senior advisor for safety at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), president of the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety, and co-chair of the National Steering …

F689 Accident Survey Citations: What’s Behind These Immediate Jeopardies?

F-tag 689 (Free of Accident Hazards/Supervision/Devices) was the No. 1 tag cited at the immediate jeopardy (IJ) level in 2023—and remains at the top halfway into 2024, according to QCOR data accessed on June 30, 2024. In many ways, F689 is a catch-all tag, says Angie Szumlinski, LNHA, RN, GERO-BC, …

Taking the Mystery out of the Facility Assessment

Everyone loves a good mystery. Many like to watch their favorite mysteries on television or read a good thriller. However, mystery and suspense should not be a part of the facility assessment review. The final staffing rule released in April 2024 requires all facilities accepting Medicare and Medicaid payments to …

Take a Bad Care Plan and Fix it – Aug. 1, 2024

Members: $25 |  Non-members: $50Continuing Education: 1 CE hour Recording Date: Aug. 1, 2024Duration: 60 minutesSpeaker: Jessie McGill, RN, BSN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA A poorly written care plan can have many adverse effects on both the resident and the facility team. Residents may have unmet needs, experience a decline in overall health, and feel dissatisfied …