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A proposal to create a regulatory Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board within the Department of Labor is poised to advance this session. The measure recently included in the Jobs and Labor Omnibus Conference Report will allow the Governor to appoint a nine-person commission to adopt rules establishing minimum nursing home compensation standards for nursing home workers.

The Legislature is required to adjourn by May 22. With less than two weeks remaining, LeadingAge Minnesota and its members continue to advocate for funding that will help ensure seniors have access to the care they need when and where they need it

Remote adult day services will be a permanent option for licensed adult day services providers beginning July 1.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This is the second in a series of articles from contributor Dr. Alyson VanAhn, Associated Clinic of Psychology, featuring tools to improve staff mental health.

In last week’s overview article, I introduced three significant factors that can improve staff retention when attended to deliberately by you and the leaders in your buildings – staff feeling valued, supported, and effective.

Three minutes; three good things.  It has been shown that if you write down three good things that happen to you daily, your happiness and positivity increase. 

The Dining Robotics Playbook is the second in a series of workforce technology solution playbooks designed to help you identify technology solutions to address the workforce crisis.  Dining robotics can improve efficiency and convenience by reducing step count during food delivery and table bussing and enabling staff to remain in the dining room and be available to residents.

Updated from original content posted on Monday, May 8

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. The CDC updated sections on recommendations for universal source control and admission testing and added an appendix section to help organizations determine when to implement broader use of source control. In response to the CDC guidance release, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an update to QSO 20-39-NH REVISED, essentially adopting the CDC guidance.

Investing in the professional development of the aging services workforce is more important now than it has ever been. The LeadingAge Minnesota Foundation is excited to offer educational scholarships to eligible caregivers and other employees of our member organizations for 2023.

Saint Therese, a senior living leader in the Twin Cities and a member of LeadingAge Minnesota, announced it has signed a letter of intent to assume ownership of a full continuum of care life plan community from the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Monroe, Mich., through a proposed transfer of sponsorship agreement between the two nonprofit organizations. The life plan community is IHM Senior Living Community (IHM SLC).

Self-Care for Safe Care helps you create an environment where teams and individuals can thrive and find joy. As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month, it is an excellent time to revisit activities from Self-Care for Safe Care to retrain our minds to focus on the positive and increase our sense of happiness and well-being.

May is Mental Health Month. This is the first in a series of articles from contributor Dr. Alyson VanAhn, Associated Clinic of Psychology, featuring tools you and your organization can use to improve staff mental health.

On May 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published QSO-23-13-ALL. The document provides nursing homes with an update regarding the end of the public health emergency (PHE) and how it impacts regulatory blanket waivers and interim final rules (IFR).

A licensed assisted living facility in Minnesota is required to comply with the Minnesota Food Code and have a Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM).

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) summarizes data used to depict the state of antibiotic stewardship in Minnesota’s nursing homes in its newly released report, Antibiotic Use and Stewardship. The report outlines opportunities for MDH and clinical partners to use antibiotic stewardship programs.

Documentation standards are critical in today’s healthcare settings to provide quality patient care and meet regulatory requirements. The SBAR technique provides a framework for communication between members of the healthcare team about a patient’s condition.

This summer, CareerForce Minnesota is launching “Follow Your Heart to a Caring Career,” – A statewide campaign to promote caregiving careers in serving seniors and people with disabilities.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota are developing a new technology to help reduce item loss in care settings and are looking for providers to offer feedback.  Volunteers will view a five-minute presentation about the technology and answer a few simple questions. The interview will be conducted over Zoom (or over the phone, if preferred) and will last around 30 minutes. As a token of appreciation, volunteers will receive a $50 Amazon gift card.

On May 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will publish an Information Collection Request (ICR), a request for public comment on a specific topic, as part of a proposed rule about revising the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system.

On April 23, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidance for mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. Going forward, bivalent vaccines will be administered for all immunization doses, and the monovalent (original) vaccine is no longer available. This updated guidance does not include Novovax or Johnson and Johnson Janssen. These continue to be monovalent vaccines, and the schedule remains the same.

The Minnesota Departments of Health (MDH) and Human Services (DHS) recently responded to inquiries about proper agency staff contacts for questions about nursing home closure.

Executive orders are a tool to direct action to set policy guidance and for an administration’s executive branch agencies.  President Biden’s executive order released last week provided several topics and concepts for different federal agencies to effectuate.  You can read the analysis of the executive order here. 

A new survey of nursing home and assisted living providers conducted by the Long-Term Care Imperative shows that the challenges faced by providers are continuing. Lack of adequate state funding to support higher wages for Minnesota’s long-term care workforce has pushed nursing homes and assisted living settings deeper into financial distress, resulting in diminished access and fewer care options for Minnesota’s seniors and families.

CMS released the updated MDS 3.0 Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) user manual (version 1.18.11) in early April and will become effective Oct. 1. Watch for more information in the coming weeks on our training timeline.

On-demand content from this year’s Virtual Institute is available online for registered participants to view and earn CEUs through April 30. On-demand content includes 17 sessions for the Virtual Institute and the three keynote sessions from the in-person conference.

Documentation standards are critical in today’s healthcare settings to provide quality patient care and meet regulatory requirements. The SBAR technique provides a framework for communication between members of the healthcare team about a patient’s condition.

Statewide nurse aide test pass rates are rising, but OnTrack nursing assistant students continue to exceed these averages.

Several members of LeadingAge Minnesota attended LeadingAge's annual Leadership Summit in our nation’s capital city this week. LeadingAge Minnesota attendees visited with several members of Congress and their teams to discuss issues that our providers are facing all across the state.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its 2024 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule. It includes several proposed SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) changes. 

In assisted living and assisted living with dementia care licensing surveys completed in the first quarter of 2023 by the Minnesota Department of Health, the average number of survey citations is 13.85. Analyzing the survey data can help assisted living settings provide safe, quality care and avoid citations on future surveys.

On April 19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released simplified vaccine recommendations. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met yesterday to discuss updated COVID-19 vaccine changes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended emergency use authorizations (EUA) for Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech products earlier this week.