Literature Review

Solvay Hospice House to temporarily pause care in Duluth during impending nurses’ strike Northern News Now, Duluth, MN; by T Kaldahl; 7/1/25  The Solvay Hospice House in Duluth will temporarily pause care and transport existing patients when union nurses walk off the job next week. The hospice house relies on Essentia Health staff to help them provide care for their patients, according to Solvay leaders. Because of the MNA’s plans to begin an open-ended strike at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, July 8, amid ongoing contract negotiations, the hospice house will be without nursing staff. 

Physicians' preferences for their own end of life: A comparison across North America, Europe, and AustraliaJournal of Medical Ethics; Sarah Mroz, Sigrid Dierickx, Kenneth Chambaere, Freddy Mortier, Ludovica De Panfilis, James Downar, Julie Lapenskie, Koby Anderson, Anna Skold, Courtney Campbell, Toby C Campbell, Rachel Feeney, Lindy Willmott, Ben P White, Luc Deliens; 6/25Setting: Eight jurisdictions: Belgium, Italy, Canada, USA (Oregon, Wisconsin, and Georgia), Australia (Victoria and Queensland). Participants: Three physician types: general practitioners, palliative care physicians, and other medical specialists. Conclusion: Physicians largely prefer to intensify alleviation of symptoms at the end of life and avoid life-sustaining techniques. In a scenario of advanced cancer or Alzheimer's disease, over half of physicians prefer assisted dying. Considerable preference variation exists across jurisdictions, and preferences for assisted dying seem to be impacted by the legalisation of assisted dying within jurisdictions.

Caring beyond cure-Perspectives of pediatric oncology nurses on end-of-life careJournal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing ; Scarperi, Peter BSN, RN; MacKenzie Greenle, Meredith PhD, RN, ANP-BC, CNE; June, 2025In a sample of nursing students and nurses working in pediatric oncology, this mixed-methods study aimed to describe attitudes toward and experiences of providing end-of-life care and examine the relationship between education, work experience, and attitudes. Overall, participants held positive attitudes toward end-of-life care, with staff nurses more positive than student nurses. All participants had provided end-of-life care, yet only 2 (5.41%) thought their education thus far prepared them. Age, education, experience, and burnout were associated with attitudes toward providing end-of-life care. Qualitative themes included challenges of preparedness and training, the nurse’s role, and parent team barriers. Training in pediatric end-of-life care is crucial to improve nurses’ comfort with providing this care.

[Ireland] Palliative care nurse specialists’ perspectives on spiritual care at end of life—A scoping reviewJournal of Hospice & Pallaitive Nursing; Dunning, Bronagh MSc, PGCert, BSc, RGN, RNT, FHEA; Connolly, Michael PhD, MSc, BA, RGN, RNT; Timmins, Fiona PhD, FAAN, MSc, BA (Open), BSc (Open), BNS, FFNRSCI, RNT, RGN; June 2025The purpose of this scoping review was to explore and to summarize the published literature on palliative care nurse specialist’s perspectives of spiritual care at end of life. The research demonstrates that specialist palliative care nurses perceive spiritual care as an important element of holistic care at end of life; however, these nurses also agree that spiritual care is lacking. This deficiency results from a lack of education in spirituality; experience of the nurse; the nurses’ own spiritual and religious beliefs and values, fears, and difficulties in communication; and the nurse-patient relationship. The findings demonstrate the necessity to increase the level of spiritual care education in nurse programs, educating nurses on the provision of spiritual care, and how to deal with conflicts in spiritual and religious beliefs.

“Her toes fell off into my hand”: 50 moments that changed healthcare workers forever BoredPanda; by Dominyka; 6/18/25 When we go through traumatic events, our brain can shut out feelings and thoughts as a way to protect us from emotional or physical damage. This can make people go numb in stressful situations, so our bodies have time to figure out the best course of survival.  Healthcare workers are frequently exposed to traumatic experiences, so when they were asked what event made them go permanently numb, they shared many devastating stories. Scroll down to find them below, and don’t forget to share similar ones if you have any. 

Dr. Anne Merriman obituary: doctor known as ‘mother of palliative care in Africa’ The Times, London, England; 6/18/25 Dr. Anne Merriman revolutionised palliative and end-of-life care in Africa after developing a cheap form of oral morphine with a Singapore hospital pharmacist. ... Universally known as “Dr. Anne”, she said: “It’s easier than baking a cake.” She developed the pain-controlling recipe after seeing terminally ill patients discharged from hospital because “nothing more could be done for them”. Many died at home in severe and prolonged pain. “A wild, undisciplined schoolgirl” who became a nun and a doctor, Merriman founded the pioneering Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU) in 1993 at the age of 57. Palliative care was largely unknown in Africa when she started her work in Uganda. HAU has treated more than 35,000 patients and trained more than 10,000 healthcare professionals from 37 African countries in the so-called Merriman model. ... Anne Merriman, doctor, was born on May 13, 1935. She died from respiratory failure on May 18, 2025, aged 90.

Nurse practitioners step in as geriatrician ranks shrink The Washington Post; by Jariel Arvin; 6/15/25 On Fridays, Stephanie Johnson has a busy schedule, driving her navy-blue Jeep from one patient’s home to the next, seeing eight people in all. Pregnant with her second child, she schleps a backpack instead of a traditional black bag to carry a laptop and essential medical supplies ... “Our patient isn’t just the older adult,” Johnson said. “It’s also often the family member or the person helping to manage them.” Johnson isn’t alone. Today, nurse practitioners are increasingly filling a gap that is expected to widen as the senior population explodes and the number of geriatricians declines. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects a 50 percent increas in demand for geriatricians from 2018 to 2030, when the entire baby boom generation will be older than 65. ...

The shrinking physician leadership pipeline Becker's Clinical Leadership; by Mariah Taylor; 6/6/25 Leaders across the nation are noticing a new trend — physicians seem less willing and interested in taking on roles beyond their clinical work. Traditionally, physicians have balanced full-time clinical loads with extra responsibility as a leader or educator. “But as people and the workforce have evolved, there’s a growing understanding: if you’re going to commit to something and do it well, you need dedicated time to focus on it,” Michael White, MD, executive vice president and chief clinical officer at Valleywise Health in Phoenix, told Becker’s. ... The increased interest in work-life balance for medical professionals has also contributed to younger physicians declining extra responsibilities. 

Fostering a team-based approach to elevate neuro-oncology care CancerNetwork; by Sylvia Kurz, MD, PhD; 6/9/25 Sylvia Kurz, MD, PhD, spoke with CancerNetwork® about the importance of collaborating with multiple disciplines to elevate the level of care and meet the needs of patients with brain tumors.

Nurse Elaine Gillard and her lifelong calling for caring New York Amsterdam News; by Leyrian Colón Santiago; 6/5/25 Treating patients with dignity and with an awareness of the disparities that Black people face in accessing health care were the two main reasons Elaine Gillard decided to become a nurse 14 years ago. ... According to a 2024 analysis, Black-American New Yorkers experienced the lowest health system performance in the state compared to white individuals. For Gillard, a 41-year-old native of Staten Island and a nurse at VNS Health Care, the disparities affecting the Black-American population were what inspired her to focus her nursing career on hospice care. ... Gillard believes that being a Black nurse and caring for patients from Black-American communities helps foster greater trust in the health care system.

Cleveland Clinic virtual care service expands throughout US Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 6/4/25 The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic, a virtual second opinion service, is expanding its licensure to thousands of additional providers across the nation. The Clinic partnered with credentialing company Baton Health to grow its provider licenses to more than 10,000, spanning the entire country. The Clinic, a joint venture between Cleveland Clinic and telehealth company Amwell, offers quick access to physicians and subspecialists for virtual second opinions. 

AMA advocacy: Graduate Medical Education and student loans American Medical Association; 6/3/25 The American Medical Association is committed to supporting medical students and residents as they attend school and enter their training years. As part of this the AMA believes that the cost of a medical education should never pose a barrier to a career in medicine and has long-standing concerns about the high and increasing costs of medical education and supports efforts to ensure that individuals are offered fair loan terms and are provided with the ability to make meaningful progress towards paying off their student loans. In alignment with this, the AMA collaborates with our partners in the Federation of Medicine, and engages in consistent and ongoing advocacy work in the public- and private-, to ease the financial burden medical students, residents and physicians by: ...

Hawai'i Pacific University alumni join forces to build a pioneering palliative care team for student excellence Special to The 'Ohana - HPU's Daily News, Honolulu, HI; 6/3/25 A group of HPU alumni from the nursing, social work, public health and business administration programs ... will be working towards steering a newly established palliative care team at HPU to assist nursing students, social workers and public health students to play an important role in understanding palliative care, hospice and communication with family and survivors. The team will play a role in setting up clinical placements in the community at St. Francis Palliative Care Units and Hospice, to give our nursing students invaluable hands-on experience in providing compassionate care for patients with serious and life-limiting illnesses. HPU Assistant Professor Joy Bliss, Ph.D., will also be designing simulations for “effective listening and communication skills,” to enhance student’s performance and skills in grief and this specialty of nursing. ... This initiative is not only an opportunity to strengthen the clinical training of nursing students, but also an essential step forward in improving the availability and quality of palliative care in Hawaiʻi.