Literature Review

Evaluating palliative care needs in patients with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions: An umbrella review of needs assessment tools Healthcare; by Chrysovalantis Karagkounis, Stephen Connor, Danai Papadatou, Thalia Bellali; 12/24/25 Patients with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions experience illness burdens and palliative care needs comparable to those of oncology patients, yet palliative care is often introduced late. Identifying individuals with potential palliative care needs is complex, and although multiple tools exist, the most appropriate approach for assessing needs in this population remains unclear. This umbrella review aimed to identify and evaluate tools used to systematically assess palliative care in adults with advanced non-malignant chronic conditions, with a specific focus on their content, structure, and psychometric properties.

Meant to Be: Denise's journey into hospice nursing The McKenzie, Tennessee Banner; 1/27/26 When Denise lost her husband, Tony, to leukemia at only 39, her world shifted forever. She was 29. ... In her thirties, ... she enrolled in nursing school, determined to rebuild her own story, one chapter at a time. ...Then came a nursing hospice opportunity. ... For Denise, hospice nursing isn't about endings; it's about helping families find peace, honesty, dignity, and hope in the final chapter. She carries the responsibility with deep reverence. "We're the last chapter," she says softly. "And if that chapter ends poorly, a lot of it is on us." ... Denise's journey reminds us that sometimes the hardest heartbreaks lead us to the most meaningful callings. Editor's Note: [Full access to this may require a subscription.] What personal life experiences brought many of your clinicians to end-of-life care? You may be surpised how little you know about them; what brings meaning and purpose for them; how seeing their journeys inspires you in your leadership role.

Briana Kohlbrenner: End-of-life care is under threat - as demand for hospice grows, workers say staffing and pay must keep paceVTDigger, Vermont; commentary by Briana Kohlbrenner; 1/27/26 As demand for hospice grows, workers say staffing and pay must keep pace. University of Vermont Home Health and Hospice (UVMHHH) is at a crossroads. As Vermont’s population ages, the demand for hospice care is growing. ... We are asking for fair and transparent pay scales, safe staffing and equity within the UVM Health system. Though we wear the same logo on our badges, we are paid less than our counterparts in other parts of the UVM Health system. A new nurse starting at UVM Home Health and Hospice earns $6.72 less per hour than a new nurse at the UVM Medical Center.

How do I tell my patient they’re dying? Medscape; by Lisa Mulcahy; 1/27/26 Ruth Parry, PhD, still remembers a conversation she mishandled as a junior National Health Service stroke rehabilitation physiotherapist many years ago. ... Since then, Parry has analyzed nearly 100 video consultations between practitioners and patients with poor prognoses in stroke and head injury and with terminal diagnoses. Her research explores a critical clinical dilemma: How do doctors navigate the delicate balance of providing fair, accurate information about dire prognoses while respecting a patient’s feelings and personal choices?

Participants praise palliative care program for the homeless Medscape; by Kate Johnson; 1/26/26 Patient perspectives about a palliative care outreach intervention for adults experiencing homelessness are overwhelmingly positive, according to a qualitative, descriptive study of the Palliative Education and Care for the Homeless (PEACH) program in Toronto. “While previous research suggests persons experiencing homelessness emphasize symptom management needs at the end of life, our findings also underscored unmet primary care, medical supply, and psychiatric needs,” wrote lead author Alexander R. Levesque, MD, of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and coauthors. 

Husband with Parkinson's was admitted into at-home hospice program and has dramatically improved. Have others experienced this? Aging Care; by Klwolf; 1/21/26 My DH has Parkinson’s that has been getting progressively worse for months. In early December we had him assessed for hospice and he was admitted. Since then, he’s improved dramatically. Has anyone else experienced dramatic improvement AFTER hospice enrollment? The hospice staff simply shrugs and says this sometimes happens and that we need to be prepared for him to revert back to his previous state. Editor's Note: Many clinicians have seen individuals improve after hospice enrollment, often due to better symptom control, reduced stress, or consistent interdisciplinary care. The concern here is not the improvement itself, but the hospice team’s reported response. A shrug can feel dismissive to families already living with uncertainty. How do we teach teams to communicate about improvement—honoring hope while preparing families with clarity, compassion, and trust?

Best healthcare jobs in 2026: US News Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 1/13/26 For the third consecutive year, nurse practitioner earned the No. 1 spot in U.S. News & World Report‘s annual best jobs rankings. The media company released the rankings Jan. 13, highlighting the best jobs across 17 categories, including healthcare. 

Why asking about “critical abilities” is misguided: Lessons learned from the updated Serious Illness Conversation Guide Journal of General Internal Medicine; by Joel Michael Reynolds, PhD and Michael Pottash, MD, MPH; 1/20/26 The Ariadne Labs’ Serious Illness Care Program is a care delivery model that aims to improve conversations between patients and their clinicians about serious illness. This is accomplished through its foundational tool: the serious illness conversation guide. ... As of 2022, the Serious Illness Care Program has a footprint in over 44 countries and in all 50 states. The conversation guide had been translated into over 13 languages and nearly 18,000 clinicians had been trained on its use. In 2023, the Serious Illness Care Program released an updated conversation guide. ... Gone was the future-oriented question about critical abilities: “What abilities are so critical to your life that you can’t imagine living without them?” A more present-focused question about activities replaced it: “What activities bring joy and meaning to your life?” ... The revision of the Serious Illness Conversation Guide signals more than a semantic change. Its revision of the critical abilities question instead reflects a deeper reckoning with the ethical limitations of traditional advance care planning and with the import of disability bioethics. 

How nurses assess care goals to boost patient satisfaction informa; by Sara Heath; 1/21/26 Nurses at New Jersey's Valley Hospital boosted patient satisfaction by 14% by soliciting and understanding patient care goals. Krystal LaNeve, a nurse at Valley Hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, often finds herself talking a lot with her patients. ... [Dialogue is] key to patient-centered care but operationalizing that can be an uphill battle. Healthcare teams are strapped for time, and it can be difficult to discuss care preferences with patients ...  Editor's Note: While most of this article is behind a paywall, a similar article is posted on the ANA Nursing Resources Hub, "Ways Nurses Can Improve Patient Care."

Ethics roundtable: Prescribing controlled substances in a terminally ill patient with suspected substance abuse disorder and opioid agreement violations American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine; by Steven J Baumrucker, MD, FAAFP, FAAHPM, HMDC, Melissa Broome, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, ACHPN, Gregory T Carter, MD, Matt Stolick, Ph.D,  Scott P Boyles, MDiv, Gregg VandeKieft, MD, MA, Andrew Wampler, JD, Lindsay Wilson, DO, FAAFP, Carolyn George, PsyD, Matthew A Murphy, MD, and Saima Rashid, MD; January 2026 This ethics roundtable examines how clinicians should navigate prescribing controlled substances for a terminally ill patient with suspected substance use disorder and opioid agreement violations. Contributors explore the ethical tension between alleviating suffering and minimizing harm, questioning how opioid agreements apply in end-of-life care and emphasizing individualized, compassionate decision-making grounded in dignity, trust, and proportional risk.

Nurse Honor Guard provides final salute to health care heroes Valley News Live; by Meredith Anderson; 1/16/26 Honor guard ceremonies, which are traditionally reserved for funerals held for military veterans, police officers and firefighters, are becoming more common for another group of frontline workers: nurses. The Georgia Nurse Honor Guard provides tributes to nurses who have died or are in hospice care, offering families a formal recognition of their loved one’s service to the community.