Literature Review

Palliative care: ‘This part of medicine gives me the most meaning’ UCLA Health; by Mary-Rose Abraham; 6/16/26 Second annual summit gathers interdisciplinary team of providers ... UCLA Health’s second annual palliative care summit highlighted the specialty’s role in improving quality of life for patients living with serious illness and their families, supporting healthcare teams and advancing patient-centered care. The summit also addressed the importance of a culture of wellness as a hedge to workplace burnout.

Home care/hospice salary & benefits studies: participation now open LeadingAge; by Josh Moore; 6/8/26 Participation is now open for the annual Home Health and Hospice Salary & Benefits Studies, conducted in cooperation by LeadingAge’s partner Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service (HCS), and LeadingAge is encouraging our members to participate.  The study is recognized as the standard for reliable and comprehensive compensation data, including management salaries, nonmanagement wages, fringe benefits, and other facility metrics. ... Last year’s Home Care Report contained data from 1,111 home health agencies and the Hospice Report had data from 1,091 hospice agencies.

Compassion fatigue and spiritual care competence amongst palliative care nurses: a moderated mediation model of care quality and job satisfaction Journal of Clinical Nursing / Early View; by Enise Sürücü, Funda Veren, Hülya Kulakçı Altıntaş, Büşra Baş, and Zeynep Acar Demir; 5/30/26 Impact:

How AI’s growing role in nursing raises questions about safety, ethics, and human care: Penn nursing report cautions that AI systems may add rather than reduce costs and workflow burdensPenn LDI - Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics; by Hoag Levins; 5/27/26 As artificial intelligence systems spread through hospitals and clinics, a growing debate is emerging over whether the technology will ultimately strengthen nursing care — or gradually replace parts of it. That tension is at the center of a new University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing report, “Artificial Intelligence and Nursing Science: Opportunities, Challenges, Implications, and Guidelines,” published in the May-June 2026 edition of Nursing Outlook.

BAYADA ranked on Forbes' Best Employers for New Grads list HomeCare News, Philadelphia, PA; Press Release; 5/27/26 BAYADA Home Health Care announced it has been named to Forbes’ America’s Best Employers for New Grads 2026, an annual ranking based on an independent survey of more than 100,000 United States employees with fewer than 10 years of work experience. BAYADA said it is the only home healthcare organization that made the list, ranked No. 116 out of the 500 companies recognized, spanning all industries. More than 2 million employer evaluations across a three-year period informed the final list. 

[United Kingdom] Palliative care beds paused over lack of staffing BBC News, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom; by Laura Coffey; 5/28/26 Palliative care beds have been temporarily taken out of use for end-of-life patients due to an "unexpected shortfall in consultant cover", an NHS trust said. Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) said the six affected beds at Danetre Hospital in Daventry would instead be used for rehabilitation. ... In a statement, NHFT said: "A recruitment process is ongoing, and once the medical cover has been resolved, the beds will switch back to being palliative care beds. 

How to transform a health system’s organizational culture and hardwire it for the futureNEJM Catalyst; by Brian Carlson, Nancy M. Lorenzi, Paul Sternberg, Jr., Cassandra Hennessy, Dandan Liu; 4/26Organizational culture is a critical driver of workforce and patient experience, yet health care institutions often struggle to sustain their desired culture over time. In 2017, Vanderbilt Health identified inconsistencies in expected workforce behaviors through patient feedback, prompting the creation of a strategic cultural renewal initiative. The resulting program, Defining Personalized Care, had a 4-year road map of seven e-learning modules designed to reinforce core values and improve interpersonal behaviors across the workforce. This single-center pre–post study revealed statistically significant improvements in patient experience scores, particularly in the communication and courtesy domains. The initiative demonstrated that engaging, relevant content combined with visible support from leadership can drive voluntary participation and generate measurable outcomes. This case study offers a replicable framework for health care organizations seeking to hardwire their cultural expectations and align workforce behaviors with patient-centered care goals.

States with the most, fewest licensed nurses per capita Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Mariah Taylor; 5/21/26 The National Council of State Boards of Nursing found the District of Columbia has the most licensed nurses per capita, while Utah is the state with the fewest for the second year in a row. ... Becker’s used 2025 Census data to calculate how many nurses are in each state per 100,000 population. Here are the five with the most and the five with the fewest nurses. ...Most [list starts with highest]: District of Columbia ... Alaska ... New York ... Minnesota ... Massachusetts ... Fewest [list starts with lowest]: Utah ... Washington ... Georgia ... Idaho ... Texas ...

Assessing PA student interest in hospice and palliative medicineThe American Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care; by Ryan Baldeo, Rachael Broder; 4/26While hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) is a critical and growing field, Physician Associates (PAs) are underrepresented. This study sought to assess PA student interest in HPM and identify strategies to increase engagement with the Physician Associates in Hospice and Palliative Medicine (PAHPM) organization. The survey assessed attitudes toward HPM and identified barriers to organizational involvement. Lack of awareness was the primary barrier to involvement (75.8%). Students expressed interest in educational resources (63.6%), job opportunities (57.6%), and mentorship (51.5%). Most respondents (81.8%) do not currently follow PAHPM on social media, but 72.7% indicated they would follow an Instagram account.

Proposed Rulemaking - Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing: Licensed Practical Nurse Pronouncement of Death Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; 5/9/26 ... Background and Purpose: Prior to the recent amendment to the VSL, the authority to pronounce death in a home hospice setting was limited to registered nurses (RN), physicians, physician assistants and coroners. As a practical matter, that means that an LPN, who is often present and delivering end-of-life care to hospice patients, has to contact an RN and wait for the RN's arrival for the deceased to be pronounced dead, the family contacted, if they are not present, and the body released to a funeral director or county coroner. This approach is not practical or efficient. Moreover, it is not compassionate to grieving families to wait, sometimes for hours, for the RN to arrive to have their loved one removed.

Closing the gender gap in medicine: 5 ways to support women physicians CAPC | Center to Advance Palliative Care; by  Laurel Kilpatrick, MD, FAAHPM and Sonia Malhotra, MD, MS, FAAP; 4/27/26 From allyship to advocating for systemic change, learn how you can you champion women physicians so they can lead and thrive. Having more women physicians in medicine isn’t just a matter of equity—it’s important for patient outcomes. ... The strategies outlined at the end of the blog apply to all female health care professionals, not just physicians. 

10 best, worst states for nurses in 2026 Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 4/28/26 ... To determine the best and worst states for nurses, the personal finance company evaluated all 50 states across two two dimensions: opportunity and competition, and work environment. Those dimensions were evaluated using 20 metrics, ranging from monthly average starting salary for nurses to average commute time. ... Here are the 10 best and worst states for nurses in 2026, per the ranking: Best: 1. Maine; 2. New Hampshire; 3. Washington; 4. Oregon; 5; Arizona; 6. West Virginia; 7. Minnesota; 8. Montana; 9. Connecticut; 10. Florida Worst: 50. Oklahoma; 49. North Dakota; 48. Alabama; 47. Mississippi; 46. South Dakota; 45. Louisiana; 44. Tennessee; 43. Arkansas; 42. Hawaii; 41. Virginia