Literature Review

Top ten tips palliative care clinicians should know when caring for seriously ill patients with stimulant use disordersJournal of Palliative Medicine; by Rebekka DePew, Nicole Dussault, Kyle Quirk, Erin Vipler, Josh Borris, Sandra DiScala, Teddy Scheel, Katrina Nickels, Gregg Robbins-Welty, Janet Ho; 8/26Stimulant use disorder (StUD) is common in the hospice and palliative care (PC) setting, though guidance for clinicians remains limited. Stigma around stimulant use is widespread and can lead to impaired clinician/patient communication, poor symptom control, and lower quality of care. PC clinicians should be able to diagnose StUD, understand the potential pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic management options, engage with patients in a trauma-informed way, and refer to addiction medicine colleagues when appropriate. When utilizing opioids for pain management, PC clinicians should be aware of the impact of stimulant use on opioid risk and toxicity. In this article, a multidisciplinary group of PC, hospice, addiction medicine, psychiatry, ethics, and pharmacy clinicians presents ten practical tips for caring for seriously ill patients with current or prior StUD.

59% of health care workers say they will look for a new job in the next year, and employers guess 39% Physicians Practice; by Austin Littrell; 9/16/26 The 2026 Healthcare Workforce Barometer measures the gap between what practice leaders think their staff want, and what staff say they want. Fifty-nine percent of U.S. health care workers say they are likely to look for job openings, interview for or switch to a new role in the next year, according to the 2026 Healthcare Workforce Barometer released Wednesday by The Harris Poll. Employers surveyed alongside them estimated that 39% of their own staff would. Forty-two percent of employees said they are likely to look outside their organization; employers put it at 32%. ... Roughly 40% of the employee sample are physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners or physician assistants; approximately 60% work in other patient-facing roles.

Phoenix Home Care & Hospice expands Technology Assisted Waiver Services to Southeast Kansas The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO; Press Release; 9/15/26 Phoenix Home Care & Hospice has expanded its Technology Assisted Waiver services into six Southeast Kansas counties: Allen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and Neosho. ... Phoenix's Technology Assisted Waiver nurses provide individualized care based on each child's medical needs and plan of care. Services may include ventilator management, tracheostomy care, G-tube feedings, medication administration and management, IV therapy, total parenteral nutrition, routine blood draws and other skilled nursing services.

BPC’s comment on the CMS 2027 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed ruleBipartisan Policy Center (BPC); by Zach Gaumer; 9/15/26 [Letter to Mehmet Oz, Administrator, CMS/HHS] This letter includes BPC’s comments on select provisions of CMS’s proposed rule. The enclosed comments focus on our recent work on Medicare Part B physician payment reform and primary care payment reform, digital technology and AI, complex and long-term care, and rural health care. We offer comments on the following provisions within the proposed rule:

Effective palliative care for hospice transitionsJAMA Internal Medicine; by May Hua, MD, MS, Miguel Cid, MPH, Claire Barshied, PhD, Rachel C. Shelton, ScD, MPH, Grace Hu, MPH, Natasha Stekl, MPH, Carrie Brill, BS5; Elise C. Carey, MD, and R. Sean Morrison, MD; 9/14/26 Question: What factors impact the ability of palliative care teams to affect hospice use for patients with metastatic cancer?Findings: In this qualitative study across 6 sites with interviews among 93 clinicians and patients, institutions with high and low performance in hospice use exhibited substantive differences in the relationship between palliative care and oncology teams. At high-performing sites, the relationship was characterized by mutual trust and respect, warmth and familiarity, and empathy for each other, while at low-performing sites, the relationship was characterized by a lack of trust and familiarity as well as negative regard for each other.Meaning: These findings suggest that the relationship between palliative care and oncology teams is a modifiable factor that could affect care delivery and patient outcomes.

Free webinar for physicians and healthcare professionals: Reducing hospital readmissions and reducing Hospital Readmissions and Length of stay in advanced illness patients VITAS Healthcare; Press Release; 9/14/26

Nurse accused of ‘exorcism’ as nursing home resident’s 911 calls went unanswered for 34 minutes Yahoo!News; Olivia Richman; 9/12/26 A resident at a Pennsylvania nursing home called 911 at 2:53 a.m. and reported that a nurse was trying to kill people. Four calls and more than half an hour later, police finally reached the room. ... The grand jury report says the agency licensed practical nurse, Octavia Lasha Robinson, was standing over a hospice resident identified as E.B. when officers arrived on June 23, 2025. Robinson had her fingers pressed into the resident's mouth, while blood was visible on the resident's clothing and bedding and on items scattered around the room. The episode was described by witnesses as an attempt to drive demons from the resident. The report says Robinson repeatedly spoke about demonic possession as police took her into custody.

Timing prompts for advance care planning discussions and advance directive completionJAMA Network Open; by Neil S Wenger, Fernando Javier Sanz Vidorreta, Chi-Hong Tseng, Victor Gonzalez, Ron D Hays, Maryam Rahimi, Lisa Gibbs, Katherine Santos, Rebecca L Sudore, Anne M Walling; 8/26Objective: To compare the association of an appointment-based ACP [advance care planning] behavioral intervention delivered with the patient just before a primary care visit vs a non-appointment-based intervention. Among patients receiving appointment-based interventions, 1143 (40.2%) had ACP discussion documentation in the EHR [electronic health record] compared with 714 (27.5%) of patients receiving only non-appointment-based interventions ...  Appointment-based interventions were associated with more AD or POLST and documented ACP discussions than non-appointment-based interventions across all 3 ACP intervention groups.

Former VA nurse charged with intentionally abusing hospice patient News 8 Now, La Crosse/Toma, WI; by Sam Shilts; 9/10/26 A former registered nurse at the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center faces a felony charge after prosecutors say she intentionally removed oxygen from a dying hospice patient, causing him great bodily harm. Beth Marie Holtz, 53, of New Berlin, was charged Wednesday in Monroe County court with intentionally abusing a patient causing great bodily harm. An arrest warrant was issued the same day. According to the criminal complaint, the incident occurred Aug. 17, 2025, involving a 75-year-old patient who had been admitted to hospice with pulmonary fibrosis and had a medical order for continuous oxygen supply.

Impact of outpatient palliative care consult triggers on end-of-life outcomes in a VA hematology/oncology clinic Medscape; by Morgan Lyttle, MD, Michelle Popadiuk, MBA, LPN, RHIT, ODS-C, Seema Limaye, MD, Alexi Vahlkamp, Shannon Carrigan, MD, and Jean Vendiola, MD; 9/4/26 ... Conclusions: Outpatient palliative care (PC) triggers successfully shifted referral origin from inpatient to outpatient, halved the rate of trigger-eligible patients not receiving PC, and maintained hospice engagement despite loss of the inpatient oncology service. Future directions include expanding triggers to other subspecialty clinics managing oncology patients.

Inpatient palliative care utilization in gynecological malignancies: a national inpatient study Medscape; by Lydia Francis, LF and Benjamin Easow, MD; 9/3/26 Conclusions: Only 1 in 6 hospitalizations for gynecological malignancies had documented palliative care, reflecting underutilization in a population with substantial supportive care needs. Palliative care concentration among older, higher-acuity admissions suggests late referral rather than early integration. These findings support timely palliative care expansion in gynecological malignancies to improve symptom management and goal-concordant care.

Using case studies to bridge the undergraduate nursing education gap in palliative and hospice careJournal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing; by Katherine Adams, Lisa Cross; 8/26Undergraduate nursing students struggle with understanding pharmacological pain management, especially in palliative care. New nurses indicate needing more experience with pain management and ethical dilemmas surrounding pain management. This project aimed to develop real-life case scenarios aligned with palliative competencies for use in undergraduate courses. Traditionally, palliative and hospice content is delivered with community courses, possibly limiting student competency across settings. These case studies present an opportunity for formative student assessment in pharmacological and other palliative management over 4 settings. Facilitation requires reflective techniques, and nurse faculty may need support in guiding discussions.