Long-Term Care Survey Alert
BEXTRA LINKED TO LIFETHREATENING SKIN CONDITIONS
If a resident taking Bextra develops a skin rash, stop the medication immediately. That’s the recommendation the Food & Drug Administration makes in a recent alert about the drug, which is often prescribed for osteoarthritis and arthritis in long-term care settings. Since the popular Cox-2 inhibitor went on the market, the FDA has received reports of several cases of serious immune-related skin and hypersensitivity reactions in patients taking the drug. While the adverse events are rare, some of the patients who developed them required hospitalization.
The skin conditions associated with Bextra include Stevens Johnson Syndrome (SJS), exfoliate dermatitis and toxic epidermal necrolysis. Clinicians should not prescribe the medication for patients with allergies to sulfa-containing products, which are known to trigger SJS. The new warnings will be published in FDA-required drug labeling for Bextra. Report any unexpected adverse events associated with the use of Bextra directly to the FDA MedWatch program at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Long-Term Care Survey Alert
- Quality of Care:
6 CARE MYTHS THAT CAN DERAIL RESIDENT CARE AND SURVEYS
continues to disseminate more evidence- based practices through its Webcasts and surveyor training. Below experts [...] - Survey Management:
COUNTERACT SURVEYORS' 'TALL TALES' ABOUT NURSING HOMES
The facility might be wise to take pictures of the resident’s preexisting pressure ulcers and [...] - Resident Assessment:
DEPRESSION MISCONCEPTIONS STAND IN THE WAY OF ASSESSMENT
Be honest: Do you secretly expect nursing home residents to be a little depressed or [...] - Resident Care Documentation:
SIDESTEP FEDERAL CRACKDOWN ON FALSE DOCUMENTATION
Federal regulators are now targeting falsified resident care records, so make sure your staff chart [...] - Regulatory Compliance:
WATCH OUT FOR SUBTLE FORMS OF 'CHARTING PARTIES'
The stereotypical idea of “charting parties,” where nurses with four different colored pens furiously fill [...] - Best Practices:
BATHE RESIDENTS WITHOUT FIGHTS OR F TAGS
Expect surveyors to take a closer look not only at how you’re bathing residents, but [...] - Best Practices:
5 WAYS TO REDUCE PAIN DURING THE BATH
Nurse researcher JoAnne Rader discovered that the bathing time uncovers a lot of unrecognized or [...] - Survey Management:
CAN YOU ASK SURVEYORS NOT TO COME BACK?
What nursing home provider hasn’t occasionally felt like showing a surveyor the door? Many nursing [...] - Regulatory Trends:
HHS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS KEY SURVEY, MDS REFORMS
Life could get a lot easier for nursing homes if the Health & Human Services’ [...] - Pharmacology:
BEXTRA LINKED TO LIFETHREATENING SKIN CONDITIONS
If a resident taking Bextra develops a skin rash, stop the medication immediately. That’s the [...] - Drug Inventory Management:
ONLINE CENTER PROVIDES DRUG SHORTAGE GUIDANCE
If your long-term care facility is having difficulty keeping certain meds in stock, check out [...] - Alzheimer's Disease:
BEHAVIORAL SYMPTOMS BIGGEST COST DRIVER IN ALZHEIMER'S CARE
Here’s one study finding that nursing homes could write the book on: Behavioral symptoms in [...]
