Literature Review

Bristol Hospice’s quest to help patients sleepHospice News, by Jim Parker; 2/14/24Salt Lake City-based Bristol Hospice has developed a branded program designed to help their patients get better sleep, which can significantly impact quality of life.

What 54% of physicians want enough to take a pay cutBecker's Hospital Review, by Erica Carbajal; 2/13/24Many physicians feel conflicted in their personal lives due to the demands of the job, and more than half say they would take a pay cut for a better work-life balance, according to Medscape's "2024 Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report." The findings, released Feb. 13, are based on a survey of 9,226 practicing U.S. physicians across 29 specialties.

Understanding the discordance about prognosis between clinicians and terminally ill patients and their surrogatesThe ASCO Post, by Jo Cavallo; 2/14/24A Conversation with Douglas B. White, MD, MASResearch shows that about half of adults near the end of life in the United States are too ill to participate in decisions about whether to accept life-prolonging treatment, requiring family members and other proxies to serve as surrogate decision-makers for their critically ill loved ones. However, research also shows that surrogates of patients with advanced illness often have optimistic expectations about prognosis, which often lead to the increased use of invasive treatment (including life support) in dying patients and delays in the integration of palliative care.

Changes in hospice care experiences during the COVID-19 pandemicRand, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; by Maria DeYoreo, Rebecca Anhang Price, Ann C. Haas, Anagha Alka Tolpadi, Joan M. Teno, Marc N. Elliott; 2/12/24Demand for hospice and palliative care services increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospices strove to meet this demand despite staffing shortages and visitation restrictions that sometimes prevented family members and hospice staff from visiting patients in institutional settings such as nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals. We examine how the COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced the characteristics of patients receiving hospice care, the settings in which they received care, and their care experiences using national data from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey. The survey is completed by bereaved family caregivers following the death of the hospice patient, and is the national standard for assessing patient- and family-centeredness of hospice care.

What is a good death? End-of-life doulas can help the dying have one.Boston Globe, by Sherrie Dulworth; 2/9/24... Home hospice agencies offer vital services for terminally ill people who wish to die at home, assisting with, among other things, pain management and helping the terminally ill avoid needless medical procedures. ... But while it is often thought that home hospice workers are the primary caregivers for the dying, this is not so. Instead, it is loved ones who often do the heavy lifting, both physically and emotionally, that comes with tending to the dying. ... This is where a death doula comes in, and the work they do speaks to the nonmedical, more spiritual side of what it means to have a good death.

Hospice nursing a ‘privilege and honour’, says chief nurseNursing Times, by Edd Church; 2/13/24The chief nurse of a children's hospice is seeking to challenge perceptions of the specialty and encourage more nurses into it.

Using patient narratives to evaluate a hospice serviceNursing Times - Patient Experience, by Val Stangoe and Steve Mee; 2/12/24Questionnaire surveys at a hospice proved ineffective as a tool to identify areas for service improvement, but narrative inquiry with patients and their families identified important deficits that offered clear guidance for service development. This method needed a careful, respectful approach, as well as significant time and resources, but proved to be invaluable. Many of the patients enjoyed having an opportunity to tell their stories, while nursing staff could be involved in the project, thereby enhancing their skills and raising their ambitions.

Highest-paying cities for nurses in every stateBecker's Clinical Leadership, by Mariah Taylor; 2/6/24Here is the top metro area in every state with the median annual wage for nurses. [Highest paying cities include:]

AAHPM Annual Presidential CitationsAAHPM email (no link); 2/7/24American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) announced their three Presidential Citations of 2024 to be presented at Annual Assembly taking place from March 23-25 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Clinicians and caregivers must keep pace with new pacemaker tech available for seniors: studyMcKnight's Senior Living, by Aaron Dorman; 2/6/24As new pacemaker and implantable heart technology becomes available, it has become increasingly important for caregivers to keep track of the different models. A new survey classifies cardiac implantable electronic devices, or CIEDs, according to both their function and where in the heart their components are placed. The various categories also overlap, the study indicates, as CIEDs can be leadless — that is, have no wires connecting heart implants to the battery — and can include defibrillator shock capabilities.Editor's Note: Dying with an defibrillator can be traumatic for the patient and the family if the implanted defibrillator attempts to shock the person back to life, even after the heart has given out. Examine this with your Medical Director, physicians and nurses, and Policies and Procedures.

Emergency department management of common end-of-life and palliative care symptoms: Three casesCureus, by Alice Chang, James Espinosa, Alan Lucerna; 2/4/24... Patients with serious illness, even hospice patients, present to the ED in increasing numbers for symptom management. It has become essential for emergency physicians to care for patients who are not seeking life-sustaining measures but instead need quality-of-life interventions. The development of a clear, concise review of the most common acute symptoms can provide a framework for EM physicians to adequately address the needs of patients at the EOL.

How does care coordination promote senior health & longevity?MediaFeed.org, by Kara Lewis; 2/2/24... Care coordination offers several fundamental benefits to seniors, according to an American Nurses Association report:

Palliative care use trends, racial/ethnic disparities, and overall survival differences among patients with metastatic breast cancerJ Palliat Med, by Jincong Q Freeman, Olasubomi J Omoleye, Fangyuan Zhao, Dezheng Huo; 2/1/24Conclusions: Palliative care utilization among MBC [Metastatic Breast Cancer] patients significantly increased but remained suboptimal. Racial/ethnic minority patients were less likely to use palliative care, and Black patients had worse survival, than White patients, suggesting the need for improving palliative care access and ameliorating disparities in MBC patients.