Good morning, leaders—

Last week, over 250 of you joined us live for our very first CEU webinar. Together, NHAs, Executive Directors, owners, operators, and care leaders from across the country leaned in for a vulnerable, eye-opening conversation on one of the most serious regulatory risks facing our communities today: elopements and the IJs that follow.

We didn’t hold back—and neither did you.

We walked through a real-life scenario from earlier this year that ended in an Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) citation under F689. It was sobering. It was real. And it underscored just how critical this issue is for all of us.

Let this number sink in: F689 has been cited at the IJ level over 490 times in the past 10 months. That’s nearly 50 IJs per month tied to elopement risk alone. We’re talking about 3% of CMS-certified skilled nursing facilities nationwide flagged at the most serious scope and severity.

During the session, we opened the floor with polls—because sometimes the most powerful learning comes from simply being honest with each other.

Here’s what we found:

• 70% of leaders in attendance have experienced an elopement in their building. Firsthand.
• 38% of us haven’t talked with our teams about elopement prevention in the past 30 days.
• When asked what worries us most, one-third of respondents said it’s whether their team knows their process and role.
• Another 65% said it’s not just one thing—they’re concerned about all of it.
• On average, attendees rated their team’s confidence at 65% when it comes to knowing how to respond to a missing resident event.

Let that vulnerability settle in. This is real data from real peers—leaders who care, who show up, and who want to get better.

And that’s the key: we’re not powerless. Elopement prevention isn’t about perfection—it’s about preparedness. It’s about consistent conversations, clear roles, and systems that work when things go sideways.

That’s why we’re inviting you to take the next step.

Join our 45-Day Elopement Prevention Sprint.

It’s a no-cost, community-driven sprint hosted in a private Slack group where leaders like you will:

• Share strategies and tools
• Swap templates and training ideas
• Engage in weekly prompts and challenges
• Keep this topic alive—not just for compliance, but for culture

👉 Join here from any device

Let’s keep showing up for each other. Let’s keep being honest. Because when we talk about the hard stuff, we move from isolation to innovation—and that’s how we keep our residents safe.

See you in the sprint.

The NHA Stand-Up Playlist

Two Tracks for the Week

Whether you’re preparing for survey or dissecting and putting back together next month’s schedule, we got you.

This week’s additions:

🎵 “Rise” – Jonas Blue — for the bounce-back

🎵 “Let Me Clear My Throat” – DJ Kool — for the vibe shift

These songs (and 40+ others) are part of the NHA Stand-Up Playlist — built by NHAs, for NHAs.

Got a song that hits just right?

Reply and send it in — we’ll feature you next.

🎧 Listen to the full NHA Stand-Up Playlist here

Whenever you're ready, I can help you in a few ways.

1. Get 1 FREE CEU - Read our partner Viventium's "2025 Healthcare Workforce Management Report" and receive 1 NAB approved CE credit. Read here. 
2. Use our free AI-powered Chatbot trained on all 900 pages of CMS Nursing Home Regulations, proprietary processes, and information from decades of skilled nursing leadership experience.  Click here.
3. Sign up for Assisto and keep track of the regulatory environment in your state.  Know what deficiencies surveyors cite in real-time and ensure you're not at risk for the same tag.  Sign up here.
4. Take our Salary Lens survey and gain access to the largest database of senior living and SNF leadership salaries in the industry.  Check it out here.

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Thanks for reading.  Have a wonderful day.

Kevin Goedeke, Publisher and Founder