Literature Review

Social Work Awareness Month: A spotlight of AOSW Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC); ACCBuzz Interview with Michael L. Grignon, AOSW President; 3/26/24AOSW is the world’s largest professional organization entirely dedicated to the psychosocial care of people affected by cancer. ...  In recognition of March as Social Work Month, ACCCBuzz spoke with AOSW president Michael L. Grignon, LMSW, CCM, MBA, about the importance of oncology social workers, and his vision for the Association during his tenure. ... Why is recognizing Social Work Month important? ...

Full-time Las Vegas hospice employees working 32-hours a week. How does the nation compare? Fox 5 KVVU-TV, by Miles Friess and Nkiruka Azuka; 3/25/24Working four days a week, but getting paid for five. ... “This is a true four day work week,” said Owen Lawrie, one of the owners of Uplift Hospice.” It’s four [eight hour days], not four [ten hour days]. So it really is an extra 52 days off a year.” Uplift Hospice is a company that provides at-home hospice care. He says the schedule is not only beneficial to employees, but to their patients as well. “Because they are so appreciative of that extra day, the teamwork’s even better and then the quality of care just continues to be excellent,” he said.

Palliative care improves quality of life for bone marrow transplant patients Duke Health News & Media, by Alexis Porter; 3/25/24 ... Researchers tested the effectiveness of an integrated palliative care intervention across diverse settings. They enrolled 360 adults undergoing bone marrow transplants at three academic medical centers, including Duke University Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Fred Hutch Cancer Center at the University of Washington. ... Patients receiving the palliative care intervention reported better quality of life, defined by the degree to which an individual is healthy, comfortable, and able to participate in life events. They also had lower depression, PTSD and fatigue symptoms compared to those receiving usual care. 

Why California doesn't know how many people are dying while homelessKQED, by Vanessa Rancano; 3/25/24 The grants manager and his team at Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless knew people were dying on the streets, but they wanted more than anecdotal evidence; they wanted data that could show them the big picture and help them hone their strategies. ... Alameda County’s latest homeless mortality report is now prompting the team to focus on how to extend palliative care services to unhoused people with terminal illnesses. Garlin estimates almost one-fifth of those who died in 2022 would likely have been eligible for hospice care.

15 top health system workplaces, per USA Today Becker's Hospital Review, by Giles Bruce; 3/21/24 Fifteen health systems were named top workplaces in the U.S. by USA Today and human resources technology company Energage. Released March 20, the Top Workplaces USA 2024 list was determined using Energage's confidential employee engagement surveys and participating company benchmarks that take into account years of workplace culture research. [Click on the title's link to view these 15 health systems]Editor's Note: Each of these health systems has a hospice and/or palliative program. We honor your commitments and innovations to ensure "top workplace cultures" for your employees. 

AI scribe saves doctors an hour at the keyboard every dayAMA, by Andis Robeznieks; 3/18/24 When a health system rolls out new technology that it insists will make physicians’ lives easier, the announcement is typically met with skepticism. But the use of augmented intelligence (AI)—often called artificial intelligence—has changed that. The Permanente Medical Group’s rollout of ambient AI scribes to reduce documentation burdens has been deemed a success, saving most of the physicians using it an average of one hour a day at the keyboard. ... Refinement of the tool, however, is ongoing. ... For example, one physician mentioned scheduling a patient’s prostate exam, but the AI scribe recorded that the exam had been performed. 

Thank a social worker this month The Alpena News; 3/22/24 March is National Social Worker Month, and we encourage anyone who knows a social worker to take the opportunity to thank him or her for all they do. ... There are more than 700,000 social workers across the U.S., more than 30,000 of them in Michigan, working in all kinds of fields, from child advocacy and protection to behavioral health to hospitals and hospice. “Our mission is to help the vulnerable,” Karen Wagner, a social worker with Hospice of Michigan’s Alpena team, told News staff writer Mike Gonzalez for a recent story. 

Inside Jefferson's push to engage retired nurses Becker's Clinical Leadership, by Mariah Taylor; 3/21/24 Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health is keeping more retired nurses connected to the system through its Nurse Emeritus program. ... The program offers retirees an opportunity to reenter the workforce and provide guidance to new nurses and help nurses at the bedside. To participate, retired nurses must have an active New Jersey nursing license, work at least eight hours per month and have retired in the last three years. Nurse Emeritus participants work in an education-based role and do not perform hands-on clinical care or medication administration. 

How home care providers build out successful training programs Home Health Care News, by Patrick Filbin; 3/19/24 Building a successful and sustainable caregiver training program in personal home care demands meticulous planning and execution. From defining leadership responsibilities to establishing a comprehensive training schedule, every aspect plays a pivotal role in shaping the program’s effectiveness. Strong training programs and ongoing education also go a long way in retaining caregivers in an industry where every provider is trying their best to hold onto the employees they onboard.

Bill to help health workers with burnout moves ahead in Congress Modern Healthcare, by Michael Mcauliff; 3/20/24 A bill designed to help counter depression, burnout and suicide among healthcare providers cleared a key hurdle Wednesday, passing unanimously out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act of 2024 updates and extends for five years an earlier version of the law. It funds grants for healthcare organizations and associations to run programs aimed at improving workers' mental health amid staff shortages and ongoing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How the analytics of care can balance workforce capacity MedCity News, by Derek Streat; 3/19/24 U.S. healthcare is experiencing a supply and demand crisis as it races to keep pace with an aging population amidst a workforce shortage and mounting financial pressures. And the situation appears unlikely to improve anytime soon. In fact, recent projections anticipate a shortfall of 139,000 physicians in the next decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. One limiting factor preventing the efficient management of workforce resources is a lack of data interoperability. ...

Where states stand on medical marijuana in the workplace JD Supra, by Madalyn Cohee; 3/18/24 A federal judge in Vermont last month ruled a plaintiff’s medical marijuana use was not protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. In Skoric v. Marble Valley Regional Transit District et al., the plaintiff was fired by his employer for failing a random drug test by testing positive for marijuana despite having a valid, state-issued medical marijuana card and being prescribed medical marijuana to treat his chronic pain and depression.

Navigating difficult conversations with patients with terminal cancer diagnoses Oncology Nursing News, by Darlene Dobkowski, MA; 3/18/24 Although oncology nurses need strong communication skills to help all of their patients navigate their cancer journeys, it is critical to have the ability to have difficult conversations with patients who received a terminal diagnosis, ... Betty Ferrell, Ph.D., M.S.N., CHPN, director and professor in the Division of Nursing Research and Education in the Department of Population Sciences at City of Hope in Duarte, California, said in an interview with Oncology Nursing News. For the past 24 years, her institution has been directing a project called the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC), which is a palliative care training program and includes a module focused on communication.  ... “One of the things that we teach nurses is … that your No. 1 job is to listen,” Ferrell said. “Another thing that we say to nurses is, it is not your job to have all the answers. Patients ask very unanswerable questions. ‘Why me?’ is not an answerable question. But when a patient says, ‘Why me,’ then we want nurses to have good communication skills to say, ‘I can imagine why you're asking that question. Because as you've shared with me, you had no idea that you might be diagnosed with cancer, or you're the first person in your family to ever have cancer.’”