Literature Review

Anxiety and resilience in palliative medicine physicians BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care; by Cristhian Alexis Velásquez Marín, Carlos Javier Avendaño-Vásquez; 7/2/24, online ahead of printTo identify the relationship between the degree of anxiety and the capacity for resilience in palliative care physicians ..., [we] included 42 Colombian Palliative Care Physicians and administered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Zung Anxiety Scale and the Resilience Scale. Results: 42 palliative care physicians with an average age of 41 participated in the study. Anxious symptoms were present in 100% of the physicians evaluated. Mild or moderate anxiety was identified in 93.7% of the population and 6.3% of people with severe anxiety symptoms. ... Our results reflect that the population of palliative care physicians has a higher risk and exposure to developing anxiety and its adverse outcomes. We found higher anxiety levels compared with other studies so this population requires greater vigilance and intervention in treating and preventing mental health difficulties.Editor's Note: Executive leaders for palliative care services, use this research to be aware of possible stress-related tolls on your palliative physicians and team members. Ask. Generate dialogue. Do not assume that this applies, but rather use it to tune into and improve the support your physicians need. While this research was in Columbia, it resonates a U.S.recurring trend of the unionization of physicians, often related to burnout and stress overload.

Proven tips for recruiting top talentTCN Talks; by Tina Houser; 6/26/24 We train for many events in life, like spelling bees and marathons. We also need to train the person interviewing candidates. Our interviewers are critical in selecting the right candidates who contribute to the company’s success and overall culture. Interviewers need training and essential resources to conduct effective and fair interviews in order to choose the best overall talent. ... There are five key elements to training interviewers. They range from simple to more complex but they are all equally important.

From C-suite to scrubs, CEO takes a walk in employees' shoes Becker's Hospital Review - Leadership & Management; by Madeline Ashley; 6/20/24 Todd Forkel, CEO of Altru Health System in Grand Forks, N.D., quite literally knows what it's like to walk in his colleagues shoes, and it's all because of a program called "Shadow Me, Todd." Mr. Forkel has been CEO of Altru for more than two years, but has been in healthcare for 32 years with 13 years of CEO experience. A nonprofit health system, Altru comprises around 3,400 employees, including more than 300 providers across 65 care specialties. ... In the program, Mr. Forkel will shadow a different colleague two to four times a month, typically in the morning or afternoon. 

Hope in oncology: Where art and science collide Medscape; by Sharon Worcester, MA; 6/12/24 Carlos, a 21-year-old, laid in a hospital bed, barely clinging to life. Following a stem cell transplant for leukemia, Carlos had developed a life-threatening case of graft-vs-host disease. But Carlos' mother had faith. "I have hope things will get better," she said, via interpreter, to Richard Leiter, MD, a palliative care doctor in training at that time. "I hope they will," Leiter told her. "I should have stopped there," said Leiter, recounting an early-career lesson on hope during the ASCO Voices session at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2024 annual meeting. "But in my eagerness to show my attending and myself that I could handle this conversation, I kept going, mistakenly." ... Carlos' mother looked Leiter in the eye. "You want him to die," she said. ...Editor's Note: Click on the title's link to continue reading this insightful reflection and discussion about the importance of "hope." Engage your oncology/palliative/hospice chaplains (hopefully CPE trained and Board Certified) with your medical team members to explore this core belief in "hope." Alert: AI referrals for palliative and hospice care are increasing exponentially. Clinicians must be sensitive to the human dimensions and dynamics of "hope" (which shift and change), and not be driven just by technological data.

Great leaders in healthcare | 2024Becker's Hospital Review; by Anna Falvey, Carly Behm, Paige Haeffele, Riz Hatton, Claire Wallace; 5/23/24Healthcare is rapidly evolving and the best leaders have embraced change and are leading organizations on the forefront of transforming care delivery. The [leaders listed] are using innovative digital technology, novel care delivery approaches and creative care solutions to shape the future of healthcare.Publisher's Note: The article includes a long list - mostly large hospital system leaders, which is appropriate given the source. It's likely at least one of these people is in your service area. As always, it's interesting to consider who is selected, why, and where they are. A quick word search for "hospice" occurred once, "palliative" not at all - who might be included in a similar "great leaders in hospice and palliative care" list?

Educating the future of hospice and palliative carePortage.life; by Center for Hospice Care; 5/21/24This spring students at the University of Notre Dame gained insight into the delivery of care to patients and families dealing with serious advanced illnesses. The university, in partnership with Center for Hospice Care (CHC), once again offered the course “Introduction to Hospice and Palliative Care” that was designed by Dr. Dominic Vachon, Director of Ruth M. Hillebrand Center for Compassionate Care in Medicine and Mike Wargo, COO and vice president of the Hospice Foundation. The five-week class covered a variety of topics focused on hospice and palliative care and was taught by CHC staff including physicians, social workers, chaplains, bereavement counselors and other hospice and palliative care support staff.

The role of mindfulness and resilience in Navy SEAL trainingMilitary Psychology; by Andrew Ledford, Celeste Raver Luning, Deirdre P. Dixon, Patti Miles, Scott M. Lynch; 5/24Mindfulness and resilience are thought to be essential qualities of the military’s special operations community. Both are tested daily in Special Operations Forces (SOF) assessment and selection efforts to prepare candidates to persist through grueling training and complex combat situations; but these qualities are rarely measured. While military leadership places value on the concepts of mindfulness and resilience, there is minimal empirical research examining the role that they play in the completion of training. This longitudinal study followed three classes of SEAL candidates at Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training over their six-month selection program. We estimated logit models predicting successful completion of BUD/S and specific types of failure in that training environment with indexes of mindfulness and resilience at the start of the program as predictors of completion. The results indicate that mindfulness is generally unrelated to completion, while resilience generally predicts completion.Publisher's note: A leadership-oriented article from another field (the military) that can be applied to healthcare.

What every family should know about navigating hospice care: The keys to experiencing a peaceful, gentle, and dignified death Psychology Today; by Bob Uslander, MD; 5/7/24... As a physician with 35 years of experience, including 25 years as an emergency physician and 10 years as a palliative and end-of-life care specialist, I've witnessed firsthand the stark realities of palliative and hospice care.  ... Let me be clear: Hospice care is an enormous benefit to many people, and I am often awed by the level of compassion and commitment I witness among some hospice staff I encounter. Despite this, there are many gaps, the care can be inconsistent, and hospice care is frequently not the appropriate option for people who are encouraged down that path.

How leaders are building the healthcare workforce pipeline Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 4/24/24 The workforce is top of mind for hospitals and health systems, and executives are investing in retention and upskilling to address shortages and reduce reliance on contract labor. ... "We've got to start thinking about it differently and probably getting to people a lot earlier than we do now," Laura Hurst, administrator for Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority, an affiliate of Birmingham, Ala.-based UAB Health System, told Becker's. ... These strategies include working more closely with high schools, community colleges and other schools to help provide instruction and support and highlight the benefits of working in healthcare.

Stillwater Hospice earns SAGECare credential for LGBTQ+ care 89.1 WBOI News - Fresh Air; by Ella Abbott; 4/18/24 Stillwater Hospice received a platinum level SAGECare credential this week, making it the only hospice agency in Indiana to have received the training-based credential. A SAGECare credential shows that the hospice team has been trained on LGBTQ+ aging cultural competency. Stillwater CEO Leslie Friedel said an advocate from the community reached out to them, recommending they work to get the training in order to create safe, local healthcare. “We started to look into it and it aligned so closely with our values," she said. "One of our core values at Stillwater is inclusivity and we felt like this was a way to really live in our values.” Friedel said it’s important for hospice staff to understand issues specific to that community because by 2030, experts expect around 7 million LGBTQ+ people 65 or older nationally.

South Dakota State University Nursing School: Hitting the mark where it matters South Dakota State University, "A Message from Dean Krogh," by Mary Anne Krogh; 4/2/24As we welcome the blooming of spring (and the melting of snow), it brings me great joy to reflect on the remarkable achievements and growth within the SDSU College of Nursing. ... One area that fills me with pride is the remarkable expansion we have experienced in the areas of palliative care, rural health and simulation research. These vital areas not only represent the forefront of nursing innovation but also reflect our dedication to addressing critical health care needs in diverse communities. Editor's Note: Congratulations to South Dakota State University School and Dean Krogh! You are hitting the mark for several crucial, timely issues that continue to emerge in the news feeds we receive and distribute to our readers. 

Here’s what a doctor says actually happens when you die United Business Journal, by Nidhi Dhote; 3/26/24Death is the great equalizer; it’s a subject that intrigues and terrifies us in equal measure. Throughout human history, we’ve pondered what lies beyond the threshold of life, seeking answers in religion, philosophy, and science. Yet, despite all our advancements, the mystery of death remains largely intact. ... In this article, we’ll delve into what happens to our bodies when we die, as explained by medical professionals.

How the healthcare sector is handling cybersecurity trainingModern Healthcare, by Mari Devereaux; 3/21/24... Healthcare entities should use the Change Healthcare incident as a lesson on how to strengthen their own cybersecurity and an opportunity to have conversations about third-party risk, contingency planning and vendor backups, said John Riggi, national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association. ... Both executives and lower-level staff need to be trained on how to spot a potential social engineering attack, best practices around cyber hygiene, and how to enact downtime procedures in the event that third party services are lost for up to 30 days or longer, Riggi said.