Literature Review

A not-so-silent battle: Tackling nurse burnout with innovative solutionsElectronic Health Reporter, by Brandy Sparkman-Beierle; 1/2/24... "The intersection of rising patient volumes and staffing challenges has led to a significant drop in nursing satisfaction rates. This overextension puts healthcare professionals at risk of burnout, impacting their physical and mental well-being." Brandy Sparkman-Beierle, chief clinical officer for Homecare Homebase identifies these needs:

The silent battle: Addressing depression among cancer patientsBNN, by Mazhar Abbas; 1/2/24 Dr. Michelle King, a specialist psychiatrist, expounded on the psychological tribulations cancer patients endure, including grief, depression, and anxiety. ... [Cancer survivors] find themselves on an emotional rollercoaster, oscillating between hope and despair, underlining the necessity for balanced mental health management. Dr. King advocates for early referral to palliative care services, delivering holistic support, symptom relief, and assistance with treatment decisions. Palliative care, designed to enhance the quality of life for patients and their families, is beneficial at any stage of the illness.

Should patients be allowed to die from anorexia?DNYUZ; 1/3/24The doctors told Naomi that she could not leave the hospital. She was lying in a narrow bed at Denver Health Medical Center. Someone said something about a judge and a court order. Someone used the phrase “gravely disabled.” Naomi did not think she was gravely disabled. Still, she decided not to fight it. She could deny that she was mentally incompetent — but this would probably just be taken as proof of her mental incompetence. Of her lack of insight. She would, instead, “succumb to it.” [Read more of Naomi's story, followed by this examination of palliative care.]The field of palliative care was developed in the 1960s and ’70s, as a way to minister to dying cancer patients. Palliative care offered “comfort measures,” like symptom management and spiritual guidance, as opposed to curative treatment, for people who were in pain and would never get better. Later, the field expanded beyond oncology and end-of-life care — to reach patients with serious medical illnesses like heart disease, H.I.V. and AIDS, kidney failure, A.L.S. and dementia. Some people who receive palliative care are still fighting their diseases; in these cases, the treatment works to mitigate their suffering. [Read more of this discussion of emerging issue.]

A medication mistake cost a Lockport woman her life. A new grant aims to help others avoid same fateThe Buffalo News, by Scott Scanlon; 1/2/24 In a perfect health care system, patients who ended up in the hospital would start to feel better soon and go home with a recovery plan, along with any medications designed to help in that process. ... “All medications have side effects, and some are especially harmful in older adults,” UB officials said in announcing a four-year, $1.95 million grant focused on improving medication prescribing.

They stayed in nursing after COVID. But these Wisconsin nurses will never be the same.Oshkosh Northwestern, by Natalie Eilbert; 12/28/23FOND DU LAC – Hannah Pecora moves through the fifth floor of SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital in Fond du Lac with the confidence that comes with serving as a registered nurse since 2009. ... Pecora was there when the first shock of COVID hit the staff, along with a stream of new medical guidelines. ... Then Pecora watched a patient younger than her die. This one left her reeling.

Rethinking immunotherapy for cancer: When is the best time to stop?Wall Street Journal, by Brianna Abbott and Jared S. Hopkins; 12/26/23Halting treatments earlier could spare patients side effects and costs, but researchers face obstacles.

Death by Doctor May Soon Be Available for the Mentally Ill in CanadaNew York TimesDecember 27, 2023Canada already has one of the most liberal assisted death laws in the world, offering the practice to terminally and chronically ill Canadians. But under a law scheduled to take effect in March assisted dying would also become accessible to people whose only medical condition is mental illness, making Canada one of about half a dozen countries to permit the procedure for that category of people. That move has divided Canadians, some of whom view it as a sign that the country’s public health care system is not offering adequate psychiatric care, which is notoriously underfunded and in high demand. 

Palliative Care Consultation and Family-Centered Outcomes in Patients With Unplanned Intensive Care Unit AdmissionsJournal of Palliative MedicineJamie T Nomitch, et.al.December 25, 2023Context: Hospitalized patients who experience unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admissions face significant challenges, and their family members have unique palliative care needs. Objectives: To identify predictors of palliative care consultation among hospitalized patients with unplanned ICU admissions and to examine the association between palliative care consultation and family outcomes.Conclusions: For patients experiencing unplanned ICU admission, palliative care consultation often happened after transfer and was associated with illness severity, comorbid illness, and hospital site. Patient death was associated with family symptoms of psychological distress.

‘Fight’s not over’ striking Lower Bucks Hospital nurses say as they head back to workBucks County Courier TimesDecember 26, 2023Bucks County, PA—Nurses at Lower Bucks Hospital are scheduled to return to work Wednesday morning after a five-day strike without having reached a deal with the hospital owner Prime Healthcare Services Inc. 

Truth-telling to the seriously ill child – Nurses’ experiences, attitudes, and beliefsNursing Ethics, Sage JournalsFirst published online December 21, 2023Mandy El Ali, Sharon Licquirish, Jenny O'Neill, and Lynn GillamBackground: Nurses play an integral role in the care of children hospitalised with a serious illness. Although information about diagnostics, treatments, and prognosis are generally conveyed to parents and caregivers of seriously ill children by physicians, nurses spend a significant amount of time at the child’s bedside and have an acknowledged role in helping patients and families understand the information that they have been given by a doctor. Hence, the ethical role of the nurse in truth disclosure to children is worth exploring.

Workers launch 7-day strike at 4 Prime Healthcare hospitalsLos Angeles Daily NewsDecember 20, 2023Nurses, medical assistants, ER techs and others at four Prime Healthcare hospitals launched their second strike of the year Wednesday, Dec. 20, claiming severe understaffing and high turnover have undermined patient care. 

As new nursing program launches at WVSU, health care officials turn eye to retaining workersWest Virginia WatchDecember 21, 2023Amid ongoing staffing shortages in hospitals locally and nationwide, West Virginia State University will be launching a new nursing degree program next year. The licensed practical nurse to Bachelor of Science in nursing pathway will be a hybrid degree program and will launch in the summer of 2024, according to a news release from WVSU. “The new [program] is designed as a pathway for working licensed practical nurses who desire to obtain a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree,” the press release reads. 

Fralin Museum of Art Uses Art to Prepare Future Doctors for End-of-Life CareHyperallergicDecember 18, 2023For nearly a decade, future nurses and doctors enrolled at the University of Virginia have attended a workshop at the school’s Fralin Museum of Art to help prepare them for end-of-life care, a historically under-discussed subject in medical schools that has been increasingly incorporated into curricula in recent years.