Literature Review

A doctor’s mystery cancer gives her a new medical educationMedscape; by Kelly Curtin-Hallinan; 11/7/25At some point, every doctor becomes a patient. For many physicians, experiencing serious illness and treatment is humbling, eye-opening, and, in the end, transformative. Dr. Patient is a Medscape series telling these stories... I don’t look like a cancer patient. I didn’t have chemotherapy. I didn’t lose my hair. It’s not obvious to anyone, if they don’t see my enormous abdominal scar, that something crazy has happened to me. To this day, my prognosis is unknown...Publisher's note: Consider how being a hospice patient or family member changes the quality of hospice care you provide...

Reducing moral distress through interdisciplinary collaboration: the impact of a weekly palliative care and neonatology conference BMC Palliative Care; by Kirthi Devireddy, Riddhi Shukla, Rachel Boren, James E Slaven, Rebecca A Baker, Jayme D Allen, Karen M Moody; 11/11/25 Conclusion: A neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and palliative care-weekly-collaborative conference resulted in significantly decreased moral distress among NICU staff. Qualitative data revealed that both prolonging life with life-sustaining medical therapies (LSMTs) and ending it by withdrawing LSMTs in the context of prognostic uncertainty and institutional constraints creates significant moral distress among staff. Palliative care and NICU programs should consider implementing regular interdisciplinary collaborative conferences to address this distress.

Enhabit's strategic momentum and 2025 financial performance: A post-pandemic playbook for healthcare resilience AI Invest; by AI Agent Eli Grant; 11/11/25Overview:

Achieving goal-concordant care with goals of care consultations in the Emergency Department American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Stacy Nilsen, PhD, RN, Diane Wintz, MD, Kelly Wright, MSN, MBA, RN, Debra Poeltler, PhD, MPH, RN, Sharp Mary Birch Hospital for Women and Newborns, San Diego, CA; 10/24/25 Introduction: Time constraints may be prohibitive to adequate goals of care (GOC) discussions and could delay critical decision making in urgent or emergent situations. ... Method: A retrospective record review was conducted for patients 65 and older at a single community hospital between January and December 2023. Included patients had at least one GOC documented discussion with a nursing team called Advanced Illness Management (AIM) and were admitted or placed in observation. ... 3377 patients met the inclusion criteria. ... Conclusions: There were positive findings in LOS, ICU, and cost with AIM consultation within 24 hours of presenting to the ED, when compared to waiting for a later consultation, supporting consideration of forward-placement of GOC discussion.

31 shocking confessions people made to their doctors and nurses on their deathbed BussFeed; by Hannah Marder; 11/12/25 Being on your deathbed puts everything into perspective, and sometimes, the dying have something big to get off their chests. No one knows this better than those who work with the dying, who bear witness to these disturbing confessions. ...Editor's Note: This BuzzFeed feature compiles unverified, anonymous accounts of “deathbed confessions” shared by clinicians online. While written for popular appeal, it touches a truth familiar to hospice and palliative professionals: dying patients often reveal deeply held truths when facing the end. We share it as a reminder that such moments call for clinical steadiness, ethical awareness, and the presence of board-certified chaplains—those uniquely trained to meet these revelations with compassion and care.

10 common sibling clashes while caring for parents—and how to resolve them AOL.com; 11/10/25 Sibling conflicts over the care of elderly parents are quite common, along with disputes over estates and inheritance. ... 

Home-based care providers reap benefits of palliative care – but broader adoption hinges on reformHome Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 11/10/25 Home-based providers are seeing tangible benefits from incorporating palliative care services as part of their offerings, but adoption of palliative service lines has remained limited. However, reimbursement and regulatory reform, as well as electronic medical record (EMR) enhancements, can accelerate broader adoption of palliative services. In the process, at-home care providers that diversify into palliative care services can differentiate themselves from their peers and improve the quality of care. For Dr. Kurt Merkelz, chief medical officer at Compassus, the combination of home health and palliative care is a net positive for providers.

The human cost of health care automation MedPageToday's KevinMD.com; by Christie Mulholland; 11/8/25 AI is rolling out in medicine faster than most of us can process. Ambient scribes documenting visits. Clinical decision support algorithms. Automated prior authorizations. The promises are compelling: reduced clerical burden, more face-time with patients, less burnout. I wanted this. As a palliative care doctor and director of physician well-being at my institution, ... [when] AI tools promised relief, I advocated for them. ... 

Number of ‘solo-agers’ skyrockets, AARP survey finds McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 11/10/25The number of older adults living alone is rising quickly in the United States, but relatively few of these so-called “solo-agers” are confident in their ability to age safely on their own, according to a new survey by AARP.

Columbus Community Hospital unveils advance health care directives toolkit Columbus Community Hospital, Columbus, NE; News Release; 11/4/25 When you’re planning for future health care decisions, you need to talk to your loved ones about values, priorities and the quality of life you want. To help you in this process, Columbus Community Hospital’s ethics committee created an advance health care directives tool kit. ... This toolkit does not replace an attorney’s services; rather, it is a way for people to start thinking about what they want. ... Each toolkit contains the following resources:

The sliver of light after losing a child: Personal perspective - a child's loss can provide elusive and rare gifts. Psychology Today; by David R Patterson PhD, ABPP; by 11/10/25 I have often said that working with patients who are dying has brought an ironic, but transient, feeling of exhilaration to my life. Most care providers who work in hospice will explain to us that people who are aware of their impending mortality have a sense of being in the present that those of us who are not so close to that inevitability can only admire from a distance. ... I don’t know whether this resonates with other parents that have lost a child, but I can say that a very clear impact of my son’s loss has been to become acutely aware of my own mortality. ... After living with my son’s death for three years, I am only just beginning to grasp the lessons that his death is teaching me.

What is the best way for CNOs to tackle change management? healthleaders; by G Hatfield; 11/10/25 CNOs need to be equipped to support their nurses throughout times of change. With many constant changes happening in healthcare, from mergers and acquisitions, to leadership changes, to new technology implementation. All of these shifting variables have major impacts on the nursing workforce in any health system and can cause major disruptions in workflow and nurse wellbeing. CNOs must also keep in mind that big changes affect patients as well. The challenge for nurse leaders lies in handling that change with patience, confidence, and clear intentions. CNOs must design change management strategies that are inclusive, transparent, and responsive, while being as communicative as possible throughout the entire process.

NCPA and USC launch first publicly available tool to identify pharmacy shortage areas across America National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), Alexandria, VA; Press Release; 11/4/25 The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), in collaboration with the University of Southern California (USC), unveiled an interactive, user-friendly pharmacy shortage area mapping tool available to the general public for the first time. Previously accessible only to select individuals and organizations, the public [can now] identify pharmacy shortage areas and understand access challenges in their local communities. ... The mapping tool reveals that approximately one in eight U.S. neighborhoods — representing millions of Americans — persistently lack convenient access to pharmacy services. In rural areas and underserved urban communities, the problem is far more severe, with some states and counties experiencing shortage rates approaching 50 percent.