Literature Review

Compassion fatigue and spiritual care competence amongst palliative care nurses: a moderated mediation model of care quality and job satisfaction Journal of Clinical Nursing / Early View; by Enise Sürücü, Funda Veren, Hülya Kulakçı Altıntaş, Büşra Baş, and Zeynep Acar Demir; 5/30/26 Impact:

Making a health system merger succeed: Michigan Medicine’s journey toward a high-quality, coordinated statewide system of careNEJM Catalyst; by Scott A. Flanders, Margaret Dimond, David C. Miller; 4/26After its April 2023 acquisition of Sparrow Health, Michigan Medicine and its five-hospital system, University of Michigan Health, launched a major effort to advance business, clinical, and cultural integration across the new 11-hospital enterprise. The goal was to achieve a coordinated, integrated statewide system of care that delivered improved quality and better experience, while providing academic hospital-caliber care closer to home for patients across the state. Those efforts have led to improved financial performance, [increased employee satisfaction and reduced RN annual turnover]. Clinical integration, driven by the development of local clinical programs, initiatives to coordinate statewide care, and innovative technology solutions, has resulted in a higher quality of care delivered closer to home. For cultural integration, the keys to success have been leadership alignment, a clear vision and goals, a supportive infrastructure, strong systemwide communication, and achieving and celebrating early wins.

Get ready to access the Hospice Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER)CMS Center for Program Integrity; 5/28/26 CPI is getting really close to releasing the Hospice Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER). The Hospice PEPPER will be available through the PEPPER Portal in early June 2026. To ensure hospice providers can successfully access their reports, we ask that you distribute the following instructions to your members.

Sunday newsletters focus on headlines and top read stories of the last week (in order) - enjoy!

What we have once enjoyed, we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. ~Helen Keller

Black grief, Black healing: Exploring African American parents grief with cultural implications for treatmentFamily Process; by Nyla Rogers, Shareefah Al'Uqdah, Denzell Brown, Briayanna Johnson; 6/26African American parents experience child loss at disproportionately high rates, yet family systems and grief literature have largely overlooked this population's grief experience. This paper examines how therapists can provide culturally responsive care to African American parents navigating the death of a child. Drawing on existing literature, this paper expounds on the historical trends within the African American family system while delineating unique African American grief practices. Practical and culturally relevant clinical practices such as facilitating robust social support networks, creating structured opportunities for public and communal mourning, and therapeutically addressing the intensity of grief-related emotional responses are provided. Family therapists are called to expand their grief frameworks and family interventions beyond individualized, Western-centric models to encompass the collective, justice-oriented dimensions of loss that shape the lived experiences of African American families.

[Italy] Understanding the evolving role of early palliative care in myelodysplastic syndromes: A 2026 narrative reviewAnnals of Hematology; by Pasquale Niscola, Valentina Gianfelici, Marco Giovannini, Carla Mazzone, Maria Ilaria Del Principe; 5/26Myelodysplastic Syndromes/Neoplasms (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of blood cancers characterized by a broad spectrum of symptoms and varying impacts on quality of life (QoL). Although the integration of early PC care has long been recognized as an essential part of comprehensive management for patients with solid tumors, experience in the context of MDS is still limited. However, symptom control, QoL, advanced care planning goals, the reduction of aggressive therapies, intensive care use, including intubation before death, and resource use in the end-of-life (EOL) phase are critical issues that are enhanced through early PC in MDS management. Additionally, integrating standard hematological measures with early PC leads to fewer visits and hospital admissions near the EOL, particularly during the last 30 days. Moreover, patients with early PC die at home or in hospice care at a rate nearly in line with their preferences.

Because I could not stop for death – He kindly stopped for me.  ~Emily Dickinson 

Medicare warns seniors of fraudulent offers for "free" medical equipment and hospice servicesWBIW.com, Indiana; 6/3/26 Federal health officials are urging older Americans to stay vigilant against a surge in healthcare scams targeting Medicare beneficiaries with promises of "free" medical supplies and services. ...