Literature Review

Georgia system reopens hospital to inpatient services Hospital CFO Report; by Mariah Taylor; 5/2/24 Piedmont Augusta (GA) is reopening the emergency department and inpatient services at its Summerville campus after converting the location into an outpatient campus over a year ago. Effective May 16, the hospital will open 15 beds in the emergency department, 12 inpatient unit beds, and new imaging services. Outpatient services will continue as normal, according to a May 1 system news release. "What we heard pretty quickly from our community is that they missed the efficiency of that campus," Lily Henson, MD, CEO of Piedmont's Augusta clinical hub, said in the release.

Shocked at end-of-life: An educational video for hospice workers about Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Sarah Godfrey, MD, MPH; Christine L. Chen, MD; Melanie S. Sulistio, MD; Sharika Kumar, MD; and Kelley Newcomer, MD; 2/24 Introduction: Hundreds of thousands of patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) die yearly. Though ICD shocks can be lifesaving, they can also be severely painful. One third of ICD patients are shocked in the last day of life irrespective of DNR status. Over 97% of hospice programs admit patients with ICDs, yet only 10% have deactivation policies and less than 50% of hospice patients have their ICD deactivated. ...  Conclusion: Hospice personnel have limited knowledge about ICDs, prohibiting best care of patients with these devices at EOL. A short educational video increased knowledge and may serve as a helpful tool. Improving ICD knowledge amongst hospice personnel is essential to ensuring the unique needs of hospice patients with ICDs are met.