Literature Review

National Nurses Week 2024: RN reflects on the state of the profession, calls for change USA Today / Columbia Daily Tribune; by Julia Gomez, USA Today; 5/6/24 Monday, May 6 kicks off National Nurses Week, and it gives folks an opportunity to show their love and appreciation for the people who take care of the sick, injured and dying. From neonatal nurses who help welcome newborns into the world to hospice nurses that provide peace and comfort to their dying patients, nurses play a crucial role in the medical industry. ... Catherine Kennedy, a registered nurse and the Vice President of National Nurses United, told USA TODAY that there needs to be systemic change on the federal level to give nurses the best chance to care for their patients. A study published by the National Library of Medicine states that in 2021, nurses would work an average of "8.2 hours of paid overtime and 5.8 hours of unpaid overtime per week that year — making up the equivalent of more than 9000 full-time jobs." ... 

AI governance and cybersecurity certifications: Are they worth it? CSO; by Maria Korolov; 5/6/24The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), SANS Institute, and other organizations are releasing new AI certifications in the areas of governance and cybersecurity or adding new AI modules to existing programs. These may help professionals find employment, but with the area being relatively new, experts warn certifications could be out of date almost immediately. ... On the other hand, the new AI governance and cybersecurity certifications cover the basics needed to get up to speed, create a foundation layer on which people can build later, create a common language for practitioners to use, and will typically include ongoing training requirements to help people stay current. Here, in alphabetical order by organization are all the AI governance training and certificates known at the time of publishing. ...

Chutes and Ladders Fierce Healthcare; by Noah Tong; 5/3/24 Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. [Click on the title's link for this extensive list.]

Chesapeake Life Center offers monthly LGBTQIA+ drop-in grief support group Southern Maryland News Net; 5/6/24 Chesapeake Life Center will host a monthly drop-in grief support group for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. ... Grief is a hard and vulnerable time, and it is important to have safe spaces to process what we are going through. This group is intended for adult members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are grieving a past or approaching death. The group will be facilitated by a licensed queer therapist but will be loosely structured to offer an opportunity for participants to share their feelings and grieve with community.Editor's Note: Hospice & Palliative Care Today does not post upcoming, local hospice events, grief support groups, volunteer trainings, etc. However, we're posting this LGBTQIA+ grief support due to its unique need, with opportunities for replication in other hospices. 

Highlighting Nurses Week: Tidewell Foundation raising the next generation of hospice nurses Observer; by Tidewell Foundation; 5/2/24 ... Serving Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties [Florida], the Tidewell Foundation provides the philanthropic support needed to ensure all who need the world-class care of Tidewell Hospice ... funds the only accredited non-profit Nurse Residency program in the United States. Tidewell began its Nurse Residency Program in 2018 to combat the nursing shortage in our region. Now, 6 years later, it is the first hospice to be accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), joining a network of 264 nurse residency programs across the nation.

Pro-life hospice group launches ‘Do Not Euthanize’ Registry to protect Canadians patients InfoWars / LifeSiteNews; by Anthony Murdoch; 5/6/24 One of  Canada’s only fully pro-life hospices, the Delta Hospice Society (DHS), has launched a new Do Not Euthanize (DNE) National Registry that it says will help “defend” vulnerable citizens’ lives from “premature death by euthanasia.” Angelina Ireland, executive director of the DHS, told LifeSiteNews that the new DNE National Registry is live as of May 1, 2024, with the goal being to have everyone who has already signed, or will sign, a DNE, added to the registry.

Elara Caring, cited in death of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, vows to contest violation McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 5/3/24 The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited home health, hospice and personal care provider Elara Caring for failing to provide adequate safeguards to protect visiting nurse Joyce Grayson from workplace violence. Grayson, a licensed practical nurse, was killed last Oct. 28 while providing a home health visit for a client living in a halfway house in Willimantic, CT.  The DOL disclosed this week that its OSHA division cited New England Home Care, where Grayson worked, and Jordan Health Care Inc., which both do business as Elara Caring, with a “Willful-Serious” citation. Elara Caring faces up to $163,627 in penalties resulting from the citation. ...

CMS: Advance health equity during National AANHPI Heritage Month CMS.gov; email 5/2/24 During May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) recognizes National Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month by highlighting disparities for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. These communities account for more than 7% of the U.S. population and have the fastest population growth rate among all racial and ethnic groups, having almost doubled since 2000. Between 2017 and 2019, the number of Asian Americans enrolled in Medicare grew by 11%, which was the highest percentage increase in enrollment compared to White, Black, and Hispanic enrollees. ... [Read for more descriptions, data and resources.]

Breaking the silence: The mounting need for trauma-informed hospice care Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 5/3/24Traumatized and abused hospice patients and providers often experience an array of lingering physical, emotional and psychological effects that can fall into a silent abyss of unmet needs. ... Many seniors have experienced some form of trauma or abuse in their lifetime. ... More data has become available in recent years around the prevalence of different types of abuse and trauma. Roughly 10% of seniors 65 and older nationwide are victims of some type of abuse each year, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reported. Caregiver neglect represents 5.1% of these cases, with psychological and physical abuse impacting 4.6% and 1.6% of seniors, respectively. ...Editor's Note: This article highights interviews with Dr. Ashwin Kotwal, assistant professor at the University California San Francisco; Carole Fisher, president, National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI); Dr. Cameron Muir, chief innovation officer, NPHI; Andrea Devoti, executive vice president at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC); Lindsey Owen, executive director of Disability Rights Vermont.

Big Bend Hospice, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Partner on transformative approach to transitional careBusiness Wire; 5/2/24 Big Bend Hospice (BBH) and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) announced a partnership today to improve patient navigation within the healthcare system. This collaboration aims to streamline transitions between hospitals, doctor's offices, rehabilitation centers, and home care. The signing of the Affiliation Agreement creates a governance structure that will develop a transformative approach to improving transitions of care in the Big Bend community. Transitions of care involve a patient's movement between healthcare settings, such as doctor's offices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, long-term care, home health, hospice, etc. This partnership establishes a network of connected healthcare services, creating a seamless patient journey regardless of specific needs.

Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter's or scultor's work. - Florence NightingaleEditor's Note: Hospice & Palliative Care Today joins you in celebrating nurses, National Nurses Week May 6-12, 2024!

Updated guidance on workplace harassment covers misgendering pronouns, bias over bathroom use, more McKnights Senior Living; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 5/2/24 Final guidance published last week by the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission aims to clarify for employers, employees and others their obligations related to harassment in the workplace. ... This is the first update to the guidance in 25 years, aimed at enforcing more recent changes in federal law. EEOC clarified that harassment by any person — including employers, coworkers, customers and clients — can violate federal law. ... According to the EEOC, the new guidance “updates, consolidates and replaces the agency’s five guidance documents issued between 1987 and 1999 and serves as a single, unified agency resource on EEOC-enforced workplace harassment law.” Among other guidance, the EEOC calls out asking intrusive questions about a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, gender transition or intimate body parts as forms of harassment. ...

Thyme Care launches virtual palliative care program, appoints medical director MobileHealthNews; by Jessica Hagen; 5/2/24 Value-based cancer care platform Thyme Care is launching Enhanced Supportive Care, a virtual palliative care support program to assist its members and caregivers with managing physical and psychological symptoms accompanying cancer diagnosis and treatment. The program will be led by Dr. Julia Frydman, the company's first medical director for palliative care. Frydman previously worked in the geriatric and palliative medicine program at New York City's Mount Sinai Health System.