Literature Review

A nurse-led violence prevention program that cut incidents to zero Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Mariah Taylor; 3/2/26 WakeMed Raleigh (N.C.) has gone 20 consecutive months — and counting — without a single workplace violence incident on its medical-surgical unit. It is all thanks to a program created by three nurse leaders. The program started with a partnership between med-surg and psychiatric nurses. ...

Farmington man accused of stabbing two women released to hospice after rapid health decline 40/29 News Sunrise, Rogers, AR; by Adam Roberts; 2/25/26 A 74-year-old Farmington man accused of stabbing two women is being sent from jail to hospice care, according to court documents. James Edward Gore was arrested after police say he used scissors and a knife to stab two women on Feb. 9. ... A court filing by Gore’s attorney stated that surgeons had removed a tumor the size of a tennis ball, that he has progressive dementia, and cognitive decline. The filing claimed that when they tried to speak with him in jail, he couldn’t communicate with them and didn’t comprehend what was happening. Gore’s attorney asked the court to reduce the bond and allow him to be released to hospice. ... Gore will be sent to a hospice facility in Springdale with staff who have experience with people in Gore’s position.

What my sister Ellen taught me about dignity and the importance of being seen: A powerful reflection on person-centered care, bias, and the true meaning of human dignity in medicine Good Men Project; by Harvey Max Chochinov; 2/23/26 Several years before her death at the age of 55 years due to complications of cerebral palsy, my sister Ellen was again in hospital, this time in intensive care and on the brink of respiratory collapse.  ... I’ve spent my entire career as a psychiatrist working in palliative care. This has included leading a large program of research, examining most aspects of end-of-life experience for patients nearing death. Recently I have recast the Golden Rule for healthcare professionals, reminding them they must aspire to a higher standard. I have coined this The Platinum Rule: do unto others as they would want done unto themselves. This means that healthcare professionals can’t presume to know what is in the patient’s best interest based on what they themselves would want in those circumstances; in other words, they need to take the time to consider the patient’s goals, hopes and wishes.

[UK] The effects of music interventions on behavioural and psychological symptoms in older adults with dementia: Systematic reviewAdvances in Mental Health; by Motunrayo A. Akinboye, Benjamin O. Ajibade; 12/25Dementia, affecting over 55 million people globally, often presents with behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSDs) such as agitation, depression, and anxiety. Pharmacological treatments can lead to adverse effects, highlighting theneed for safer, non-drug alternatives like music interventions. Findings show that music interventions significantly alleviated symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and agitation. Both active (e.g., singing, playing instruments) andreceptive (e.g., listening) music therapy formats were effective, with sessions ranging from 20–90 minutes. Interventions were most successful when personalized and culturally tailored.

Retired VA Nurse shares what she learned from over 10,000 dying veteransTampa Bay 28-ABC, Tampa Bay, FL; by Wendy Ryan; 1/30/26“Everything I've learned that has really mattered, I learned from the dying. Perspectives shift dramatically as death approaches. The day before you're given a terminal diagnosis, you take your life for granted. The day after, you wake up,” said Deborah Grassman, reading her book ‘Soul Injury.’ For over three decades as a VA hospice nurse practitioner, Deborah Grassman helped over 10,000 veterans take their final breath in peace. In those sacred moments, she began to see something they all carried. She calls it a “Soul Injury”, a wound that quietly haunts you. ... 

Integrating psychiatric and hospice services: Legal and clinical considerations for involuntary commitment in multimorbid end-of-life care American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Ilana Marmershteyn, BS, Darian Peters, BS, Victor Milev, BS, Mario Jacomino, MD, MPH, and George Luck, MD, FAAHPM; 1/28/26  Multimorbid patients at the end-of-life face complex medical, psychosocial, and psychiatric challenges. Hospice care aims to address physical, emotional, and spiritual needs; however, psychiatric comorbidities, particularly acute crises, remain under-recognized and inconsistently managed. The intersection of psychiatric intervention, hospice care, and legal frameworks such as involuntary commitment presents significant clinical and ethical challenges.

Palliative care staff attitudes toward music therapy for hospitalized adult patientsAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Katherine A. Carney, Rachel M. Wiste, Susanne M. Cutshall, Christina Wood, Rachel C. Gentes, Brianna E. Larsen, Nana A. Tiwaa, Amelia E. Tetlie, Regina M. Mackey; 12/25There is emerging evidence that music therapy (MT) is an effective tool within palliative care to manage patients’ complex needs. This performance improvement project aimed to assess palliative care staff members’ attitudes toward the current utilization of MT within the institution’s hospital-based interdisciplinary practices. Top reasons for MT referral were psychosocial support, pain and symptom management, and coping. The most common symptom-focused indications were anxiety, mood, and existential distress. In this single-institution performance improvement project, staff attitudes were highly favorable toward MT for palliative care patients. MT is utilized for a variety of reasons, can be highly effective for improving patients’ quality of life, and may also be of direct benefit to staff.

Patients' perceptions of autonomy in palliative care: Two patient interview exemplars Palliative Care and Social Practice; by Kristen Tulloch, Julia Acordi Steffen, John P Rosenberg; 1/19/26 Results: Four themes were identified: (a) my involvement in healthcare decisions, (b) change to my autonomy during illness progression, (c) self-assessing my abilities to exercise autonomy and (d) my coping mechanisms for loss of autonomy. Palliative care patients perceived and managed their autonomy amidst their illnesses, revealing a sense of loss of autonomy extending beyond healthcare into many daily activities. Participants wished to exercise autonomy in nuanced ways, varying in intensity across many aspects of their lives, underscoring the importance of recognising and respecting individuals' wishes for autonomy.Editor's Note: The authors’ focus on coping with loss of autonomy is essential. As illness progresses, autonomy can erode not only in medical decisions but across daily life, identity, and meaning—losses that are too often overlooked in clinical care. The frequently misapplied “Five Stages of Grief” can further blur this reality, reducing complex, personal experiences to linear expectations not supported by contemporary grief research. Understanding how patients adapt to loss of autonomy is foundational to truly person-centered palliative care.

Prevalence rate of depression in palliative and hospice care: A narrative reviewJournal of Social Work in End-of-Life & Palliative Care; by Reid M. JacobsDepression is a common but not universal experience among individuals receiving hospice and palliative care. Though much research exists on depression in this population, there is little consensus on the actual prevalence rate, with estimates varying drastically. This is due, in part, to non-standardized definitions of what constitutes depression, variance based on assessment methods and tools, and the presence of somatic symptoms that may be due to physical illness and not depression, thus distorting the prevalence rate in this population. Depression can cause significant negative consequences for individuals and those who care for them, robbing them of precious time, increasing suffering, and decreasing overall quality of life. This narrative review seeks to understand depression’s prevalence among people living with severe and life limiting illness based on the existing literature.

'Get out of my house': 84-year-old man shoots son in the face for not visiting mother in hospice care, police say Law & Crime, Palm Bay, FL; by Conrad Hoyt; 12/12/25 An elderly man is accused of shooting his son in the face because he and his spouse did not visit the older man's wife over the weekend while she was in at-home hospice care. William Nowak, 84, has been charged with attempted murder, according to an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime. Nowak was at his home ... in Palm Bay, Florida, where he lived with his wife and their disabled daughter. His wife had recently been put on in-home hospice care, "and William has been taking care of both of them," ... The defendant's son and his wife came over to the house to visit, something she said they did "on a weekly basis." After they arrived around 6 p.m., "William began to express how he was upset they did not visit over the weekend." According to authorities, an argument between the father and son ensued.

Slow-tempo music and delirium/coma-free days among older adults undergoing mechanical ventilation-A randomized clinical trialJAMA Internal Medicine; by Babar A. Khan, Sikandar H. Khan, Anthony J. Perkins, Annie Heiderscheit, Frederick W. Unverzagt, Sophia Wang, J. Hunter Downs III, Sujuan Gao, Linda L. Chlan; 10/25Objective: To determine if a slow-tempo music (60-80 beats/min) listening intervention decreases delirium duration, delirium severity, pain, or anxiety in older adults undergoing mechanical ventilation. In this randomized clinical trial of 158 mechanically ventilated older adults, a twice-daily music intervention delivered via noise-canceling headphones and tablets for up to 7 days did not demonstrate a statistically significant decrease in delirium duration, delirium severity, pain, or anxiety.

"The Wounded Generation": Bearing the invisible scars of war CBS News; by Lesley Stahl; 11/9/25 In 1984, President Reagan commemorated the 40th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, and paid tribute to the World War II soldiers known as "The Greatest Generation." ... But in his new book, historian David Nasaw calls them "The Wounded Generation." "They are the Greatest Generation, but they returned from war, bringing wounds home with them that are invisible; they're psychic wounds," he said. "Now we know that a lot of those wounds were PTSD. But PTSD was not diagnosed for 40 years after the return of the World War II veterans. ... Nasaw said [of his own father,] "He came home smoking three or four packs of Luckys a day. He came home with a heart condition from the war. He dies at age 61. And I had never had the chance to find out what happened in Eritrea, what he went through. So, what do I do as a historian? I can't find out his story, so I jumped in to find out the story of his generation."Editor's Note: While most World War II veterans are now gone, many of today’s hospice patients—particularly those who served in combat—carry similar invisible scars. Their psychic wounds, once unnamed, often resurface in life’s final chapter. This story also echoes in their adult children, who now seek to understand the unspoken pain that shaped their families. For more insight and support—especially regarding post-9/11 veterans—see the Wounded Warriors Project.