Long-Term Care Survey Alert
CRUSHING PILLS CAN BE LETHAL
Did you know that crushing nitroglycerin pills could cause an explosion in your facility? In fact, crushing tablets so patients can swallow them more easily is a potentially lethal practice in many ways, according to a report published in a British journal, the Nursing Standard. Many pills are designed to release slowly over time and crushing can accelerate absorption, sometimes with serious consequences, according to researcher David Wright. Wright's research found that 80 percent of nursing home caregivers in the United Kingdom crushed pills at least weekly, with 58 percent claiming that the doctor recommended the practice. Your facility's safest practice: Develop a list of pills that can be safely crushed and, when in doubt, call the clinical pharmacist.
Long-Term Care Survey Alert
- Quality of Care:
HOW TO PROVE A PRESSURE ULCER IS UNAVOIDABLE
Even the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services agrees: not all pressure ulcers can be [...] - Quality of Care:
AVOID THESE 6 MISTAKES IN PRESSURE ULCER MANAGEMENT
Surveyors aren't likely to decide that a resident's new or nonhealing pressure ulcer is "unavoidable" [...] - Federal Initiatives:
NEW DAVE INITIATIVE WILL TRIGGER SURVEYS
If nursing facilities are most concerned about the havoc that the upcoming national quality initiative [...] - Clinical Assessment:
WHEN TO SUSPECT A NON-PRESSURE ULCER
All wounds are not created equal. And all the pressure relief in the world won't [...] - Federal Initiatives:
USE THREE-PRONGED APPROACH TO PREPARE FOR DAVE
Are you ready for DAVE to start looking at your facility's minimum data sets? That's [...] - FACTS ABOUT DAVE
What and How: The Data Assessment and Verification (DAVE) initiative is a central approach to [...] - Staff Recruitment:
THINK 'OUT OF THE BOX' TO ATTRACT, KEEP STAFF
If your facility has a staffing crisis or high turnover, it's time to get a [...] - Staff Management:
WORKING SHORT COMPLAINTS CAN BRING SURVEY DISASTER
Is your facility grapevine always rattling with complaints about short staffing, even though you're meeting [...] - Federal Developments:
MEDICARE PACKAGE CONTAINS PARTIAL SNF GIVEBACK
A Medicare prescription drug benefit and reform package passed by the House of Representatives in [...] - Pharmacology:
CRUSHING PILLS CAN BE LETHAL
Did you know that crushing nitroglycerin pills could cause an explosion in your facility? In [...] - Clinical Developments:
NIGHTLIGHTS COULD PREVENT DIABETIC BLINDNESS
The simple act of leaving a light on may save some diabetics' eyesight, a new [...] - Program Evaluation:
STUDY GIVES EDEN ALTERNATIVE MIXED REVIEW
The Eden Alternative, the popular program that brings nature into nursing homes, may not lend [...] - Clinical Developments:
PET THERAPY REDUCES RESIDENTS LONELINESS
Elderly patients may benefit from even short "pet therapy" encounters, a new study suggests. That [...] - Clinical Nutrition:
VITAMIN E-RICH DIETS MAY PROTECT AGAINST ALZHEIMERS
Legumes for lunch? It might be a good idea in the light of a new [...]
