Literature Review

Let us never consider ourselves finished nurses ... we must be learning all of our lives. - Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910Editor's Note: Executive leaders, what ongoing learning do you provide for your nurses? Do you simply give directives (which are important) or do you also foster the individual's curiosity, confidence, and increased competence? Whatever your hospice and palliative role, discipline, and education, may we ALL be learning, all of our lives. Celebrating National Nurses Week, May 6-12, 2024

Caring for the Caregiver: A Guide for Home Care Providers Forbes; by Joan Ekobena; 5/8/24This article proposes that nurturing the psychological and physical well-being of caregivers [employees] is essential. It’s not just a matter of ethical responsibility but a fundamental factor for maintaining quality care, promoting continuity of care and boosting employee retention. This can create a positive ripple effect, which can not only increase customer satisfaction but also boost business revenue. ... A recent decision by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) underscores the increasing awareness of the need to invest in caregiver wellness. Guides are listed as "Strategies for Supporting Caregiver Wellness and Mindset": ... [Note: "Caregiver" denotes employees who provide home care, not the family "caregiver" in the home.] 

Spiritual distress, hopelessness, and depression in palliative care: Simultaneous concept analysisMDPI; by Helga Martins, Rita S. Silva, Joana Braganca, Joana Romeiro, and Silvia Caldeira; 5/7/24The results highlight that the three concepts are different but also share some overlapping points. Spiritual distress is embedded in the rupture of their spiritual/religious belief systems, a lack of meaning in life, and existential issues. Hopelessness is a sense of giving up and an inability to control and fix the patient’s situation. Finally, depression is a state of sadness with a multi-impaired situation. In conclusion, refining the three concepts in palliative care is essential since it promotes clarification and enhances knowledge development towards intervention.

‘Take Me Out Feet First’ docuseries about end of life options debuts on Amazon Prime Video Variety; by Addie Morfoot; 5/7/24 In “Take Me Out Feet First,” a new docuseries now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, director Serene Meshel-Dillman chronicles people’s right to choose medical aid in dying. The six-part docuseries, made in partnership with the nonprofit advocacy organization Compassion & Choices, profiles 25 terminally ill people, their families, and friends, as well as experts in the medical field who advocate for MAID. The series chronicles people who have taken control of how their final days will play out. While some live in states where medical aid in dying is legal, some do not.

Exploring grief: Cleveland Institute of Art student copes with loss through her paintings FreshWater, Cleveland, OH; by Karin Connelly Rice; 5/8/24 Maddie Cantrell, 21, and a painting major at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA), grew up in the small town of Traveler’s Rest, South Carolina, with her grandparents, Alaine and Jim Sosebee, living just around the corner. ... Now a rising senior at CIA, Cantrell has found her art to be an outlet for coping with the sudden deaths of her grandparents. The result of her effort her exhibit is, “Living with Grief,” four paintings that illustrate the experience of living with grief, at Hospice of the Western Reserve’s The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Bereavement Center, ... “My work is centered around having to grow up without [my grandparents] and making a bridge between where I exist and where they exist,” Cantrell explains of her works. “... How would I speak to them if I could? Or, how would we have a conversation, even though they're not here?” ...

Over $293k bequeathed to Valley Hospice by former Marshall County teacher The Intelligencer, Wheeling News-Register; by Shelley Hanson; 5/7/24; titled "Nearly $1.5M Bequeathed to Organizations by Former Marshal County Teacher" [Wheeling, WV] Nearly $1.5 million was bequeathed to four different organizations during a memorial luncheon honoring the late Harold Vitalie, a former Marshall County educator who died in 2023. ... Valley Hospice, the Ohio County Public Library and Marshall County Public Library each received $293,531. The John Marshall High School Scholarship Fund received $587,063. ... Jennifer Taylor of Valley Hospice described the gift of money as “transformational” for Valley Hospice. Vitalie’s mother was taken care of by Valley Hospice before she died.

Wide-ranging health care bill gets final approval from CT House CT Mirror - Connecticut's Nonprofit Journalism; by Jenna Carlesso; 5/6/24The House gave final passage Monday to a wide-ranging health care bill that would add protections for home care workers, boost preparedness for cyberattacks at medical facilities and establish new regulations for the state’s health information exchange, among other reforms. ... The sections on additional protections for home care workers were prompted by the murder of visiting nurse Joyce Grayson, who was killed in October while working at a halfway house in Willimantic. ... The bill requires home health aide agencies to collect certain client information upon intake and make it available to any employee assigned to the client. Information includes a history of violence against health care workers, domestic abuse, substance use, psychiatric history, any listing on a sex offender registry, the crime rate of the municipality the person lives in, and whether there are any weapons or safety hazards in the home. [Click on the title's link for more important information about this bill's safety measures.]

6 lessons I learned from inheriting a parent’s house Bankrate; by Linda Bell; 5/3/24 Inheriting a house is a bittersweet, overwhelming experience. I remember receiving the deed that transferred ownership of my mother’s home to me and my siblings. I felt a whirlwind of emotions: sadness that my mother was gone, relief that the complicated process was over and trepidation for the enormous responsibilities that lay ahead. Along with those feelings was the compelling need to honor her legacy. Here are six lessons I learned from inheriting my mother’s house. ...

How Mass General Brigham provides emergency care at home Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 5/6/24Somerville, MA-based Mass General Brigham now treats patients needing emergency or urgent care at home. The health system's patients can request referrals to the Home Hospital Emergency Care program through their primary care providers, who decide if patients are stable enough to be treated at home. If they are, a nurse talks to the provider and schedules a home visit, where a paramedic completes a physical exam joined virtually by an emergency medicine physician. Editor's Note: Pair this article with others in today's newsletter: "Stranded in the ER, seniors await hospital care and suffer avoidable harm" (in our Post-Acute Care section), and "[Australia] Palliative patients can die peacefully at home with paramedic support, claims proposed framework" (in our International section). 

Stranded in the ER, seniors await hospital care and suffer avoidable harm KFF Health News; by Judith Graham; 5/6/24 Every day, the scene plays out in hospitals across America: Older men and women lie on gurneys in emergency room corridors moaning or suffering silently as harried medical staff attend to crises. Even when physicians determine these patients need to be admitted to the hospital, they often wait for hours — sometimes more than a day — in the ER in pain and discomfort, not getting enough food or water, not moving around, not being helped to the bathroom, and not getting the kind of care doctors deem necessary.

Palliative patients can die peacefully at home with paramedic support, claims proposed frameworkRiotack - Australia; by James Day; 5/6/24A proposed national framework suggests paramedics could help ease pressure on emergency departments by supporting palliative care patients who wish to die at home. Published in the leading international peer reviewed journal Palliative Medicine, the framework seeks to embed palliative care into paramedics’ core business and reduce needless transports to hospital. ... Lead author and trained paramedic Dr. Madeleine Juhrmann developed the framework in consultation with paramedics, palliative care doctors, GPs, carers with lived experience and others. The expert group – representing six countries and all the states of Australia – agreed on the framework’s 32 service changes to standardise best practice for paramedics delivering palliative care in community-based settings.Pair this with a USA article in today's newsletter, "Stranded in the ER, seniors await hospital care and suffer avoidable harm." 

Medicare program suddenly ending leaves seniors in limbo Newsweek; by Suzanne Blake; 5/6/24 Some hospice patients on Medicare Advantage are now facing uncertainty after the government ended a pilot program. Medicare Advantage is one of the top programs for seniors looking for health insurance, and more than 50 percent of those eligible now use the privatized Medicare Advantage option instead of just traditional Medicare. ... According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, around half of 1.7 million Medicare Advantage recipients who died in 2022 were in hospice for end of life care.

27 hospitals, health systems cutting jobs Becker's Hospital CFO Report; by Kelly Gooch; updated 5/3/24A number of hospitals and health systems are reducing their workforces or jobs due to financial and operational challenges. Below are workforce reduction efforts or job eliminations announced this year. ...