Pressing matters.

A funny thing happened to Mrs. Hobart on the way from the hospital to the nursing home.

It might have been that the ambulance ride was extraordinarily bumpy or that the vehicle's shocks were on their last legs. It could have been the excruciating wait in traffic, coupled with the long line at the fast-food drive-in window for the hungry ambulance staff. Maybe it was the hard-as-nails gurney mercilessly pushing into her skin.

It must have been something like that, because now there's an unmistakable reddened area of Mrs. Hobart's skin that doesn't return to normal when pressure is relieved. Somehow, she developed a pressure ulcer during her transport from the hospital to your facility--or at least hospital staff don't have a record of the ulcer.

Unfair as it may be, that pressure ulcer is your problem now. That's where we come in. CLTC has corralled some of the top pressure ulcer experts from the field--including F-Tag #314 cocreator Dr. Courtney Lyder, the American Medical Director Association's Director of Clinical Affairs Jacqueline Vance, and the author of Pressure Ulcers: A Prevention, Assessment, and Treatment Training Guide Karen S. Clay.

From sound assessment techniques to nutrition strategies, from friction and shear risks to the necessity of appropriate support surfaces, together these three experts provide a plethora of advice so you can take credit for solving Mrs. Hobart's pressure ulcer problem, rather than for causing it. Because--let's face it--neither CMS nor the public is going to admit any time soon that some pressure ulcers are unavoidable.

Also within these pages are compelling reads covering the safe handling of bariatric residents, arguments for the pros and cons of contracting out therapy services vs. keeping them in-house, and how to wrangle with your pharmacy supplier so that you don't end up on the bad end of an unfair contract. It's all part of our job--to make your job easier.

Sincerely,

Noelle Shough

Executive Editor

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P.S. Remember when you were a kid and you got your first official piece of mail? It was like your birthday and the Fourth of July rolled into one. Well, that's how we feel when we get your letters, so keep 'em comin' ...