Literature Review

Let's face (to face) it: Important changes to hospice face-to-face attestation requirements and other tidbits from the 2026 Hospice Final Rule Husch Blackwell; podcast by Meg Pekarske; 9/24/25 ... All in all, the news is positive: while there is a new requirement for the F2F attestation to be signed and dated, the signed and dated F2F clinical note on its own can now serve as the F2F attestation. In this episode, Husch Blackwell attorneys Meg Pekarske and Andrew Brenton share their thoughts on what the updated F2F attestation rules mean for hospice operators and weigh in on other components of the final rule, including CMS’s attempt at housekeeping by clarifying the types of hospice physicians who can certify patients. 

Exploring the opportunities and mitigating the challenges of Artificial Intelligence in nursing education Delaware Nurses Association; by Kristine Gawrych, Ed.D., RN; 9/22/25 The recent and rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have generated both excitement and concern in higher education. Opportunities for AI in nursing education can be transformative, including simulation, accessibility, and personalized learning. Just as the opportunities can be transformative, concerns such as bias, privacy, security, and ethics must be given due consideration. Nurse educators must understand enough about AI to effectively maximize its benefits and mitigate the challenges when preparing future nurses. ... Nurse educators must educate themselves on this ever-evolving technology to be able to develop strategies to mitigate the challenges of AI. 

New ‘action plan’ gives providers tools to prevent falls, minimize injuries  McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 9/18/25 The National Council on Aging this week published its 2025 National Falls Prevention Action Plan, a report that offers strategies home care providers can use to protect their clients from injury. NCOA’s action plan has six goals: boosting awareness, expanding funding, promoting clinical interventions, enhancing care coordination, upgrading technological capabilities and improving data collection for fall prevention activities. While the action plan aims to inform policymakers about ways to protect older adults from falls, it also includes actionable strategies home care providers can employ to keep their clients safe.

The role of the palliative medicine and supportive oncology APP Oncology Nursing News; by Antonia Corrigan, MSN, ANP-C; 9/22/25 ... A cancer diagnosis can bring an avalanche of psychosocial and physical obstacles for patients to navigate. ... Advanced practice providers (APPs) are key in providing quality supportive care. ... The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines recommend that patients with cancer be referred to interdisciplinary palliative care teams within 8 weeks of diagnosis. Early palliative referral benefits patients with high symptom burden, both physical and psychosocial, and enhances caregiver support. 

The new clinician-scholars—dual training in medicine and humanities drives health research innovation JAMA; by Vinayak Jain, MD; Kayla Zamanian, MS; Lakshmi Krishnan, MD, PhD; 9/18/25 Clinicians and researchers operate in an evolving landscape that demands innovative approaches to knowledge production and dissemination. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence are transforming health care, public trust in scientific institutions is deteriorating, and major centers of biomedical research are grappling with programmatic and funding disruptions. In response, a new paradigm of clinician-scholar must emerge—one equipped not only with scientific fluency, but also the conceptual, analytical, and structural tools of humanities and social sciences.

What makes a good death? GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Podcast for Every Healthcare Professional; by Alex Smith with Karen Steinhauser, Rasa Mikelyte and Edison Vidal; 9/18/25What is a “good death”? How should we define it, and who gets to decide? Is the concept of a “good death” even useful? ... In today’s podcast, we are honored to have Karen join us to discuss this pivotal study and the nature of a “good death”. We are also joined by Rasa Mikelyte and Edison Vidal, co-authors of a recent study comparing the perspectives of people with dementia in the UK and Brazil on what constitutes a good death. In addition to exploring the nature of a good death and their individual studies, we will discuss:

Associations of patient experience with doctor-patient communication and patient-reported physical and mental health in seriously ill adultsJournal of Patient Experience; by Sarah F. D’Ambruoso, Anne M. Walling, Neil S. Wenger, Rebecca L. Sudore, Lisa Gibbs, Maryam Rahimi, Ron D. Hays; 8/25We administered the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) communication scale, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement and Information System (PROMIS®) global health items, and the PROMIS-29 depression and anxiety scales. Better global health (PROMIS) at baseline was associated with better doctor-patient communication (CAHPS) at 12 months ... and better doctor-patient communication at baseline was related to better mental health at follow-up ...The results suggest that patients’ overall health may influence doctor-patient communication, and this communication may impact patients’ mental health over time.

Wound care marketing can create confusion around hospice relatedness Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 9/16/25 Hospices provide wound care to many patients, but confusion can arise over questions of relatedness to the terminal illness. The goals of palliative wound care include primarily symptom management, comfort and dignity, but it does not always focus on healing the injury, a 2023 study indicated. This differs from general wound care, which does target healing. Palliative wound care is essential for hospice patients and most of the time should be considered related to the patient’s terminal condition, according to Felicia Walz, director of hospice quality for Colorado-based provider HopeWest. “Providing wound care to hospice patients is always appropriate,” Walz told Hospice News.

A nurse’s journey through advanced breast cancer: Michele’s invasive ductal carcinoma Stage 4 diagnosis Norton Healthcare, Paducah, KY; by Sara Thompson; 9/15/25 When Paducah, Kentucky, native Michele Burgess received her Stage 4 invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosis Feb. 6, 2020, she faced the advanced breast cancer the same way she approaches everything in life — head on. As a nurse manager for an inpatient hospice unit, Michele had spent years caring for others in their most vulnerable moments. Now, she would draw on that same strength for her own battle. ... Most people expected Michele to step away from her demanding career after her cancer diagnosis. After all, working in hospice while fighting breast cancer seemed like an impossible burden. But Michele saw it differently. “Why wouldn’t I continue?” she asked herself. Her work gave her purpose, and her 10-bed inpatient unit needed her steady leadership. ...

Wound care at Sheridan VA gives 95-year-old Veteran a second chance: Veteran removed from hospice care at Sheridan VA after wounds heal VA News; by Jesus Flores; 9/12/25 When 95-year-old Air Force Veteran Roy Clifton arrived at Sheridan VA Medical Center (SVAMC) in March 2025, he thought he didn’t have much time left. “I had a bone infection in both feet and could barely walk,” he said. “Then I had a fall that caused a bleed in my brain. That’s when I decided to call it quits and go to hospice.” ... [Scroll ahead to this hospice's expert wound care.] Although both feet had exposed bones, and the injuries looked and smelled bad, Clifton’s body was healing. ... Clifton’s condition improved so much, he was taken off hospice care. “It made me feel great to survive hospice,” he said, smiling. “They’re all great. The staff took good care of me.”

Holistic nursing in BSN programs: A patient-centered approach Nevada State University; 9/9/25 ... Holistic care in nursing reflects a broader vision, encouraging nurses to see patients as whole people rather than conditions to be managed. Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs are responding by weaving holistic care into both coursework and clinical experiences. From teaching cultural sensitivity and ethics to encouraging self-care, these programs prepare nurses to build stronger relationships with patients while promoting healing on multiple levels. The result is a patient-centered approach that benefits individuals, families, and communities alike.

Developing competencies to advance health care access and quality for Latino, Hispanic, and Spanish origin populations-A consensus statementJAMA Network Open; by Débora H. Silva, John A. Davis Rodríguez, Hector Rasgado-Flores, Pilar Ortega, Deion Ellis, Fernando Sánchez Mendoza, Victor Cueto, Fabiola Quintero-Rivera, Norma Iris Poll-Hunter, Minerva Romero Arenas, Kenneth Lee Dominguez, Juan Emilio Carrillo, José E. Rodríguez, John Paul Sánchez; 8/25Question: What competencies and milestones are essential for advancing health equity for Latina, Latino, Latinx, Latine, Hispanic, and Spanish Origin (LHS+) populations? Since the 1970s, the LHS+ population has increased 6-fold and grown to be the largest ethnic or racial group in the US and accounts for approximately 20% of the US population. The LHS+ health equity competencies and milestones resulting from this study add to prior work by creating a blueprint for standardization and broader application of such educational experiences on a national level. As a tool to enhance CBME [competency-based medical education ] efforts aligned with care for LHS+ populations, the competencies may aid educators and institutions through an LHS+–informed lens in conducting gap analyses for the development of local curricula, developing teaching and assessment materials, supporting the professional development of learners and faculty, and facilitating educational scholarship. 

Clinicians who practice primarily in nursing homes and the quality of care for residents with Alzheimer Disease and related dementiasJAMA Health Forum; by Hyunkyung Yun, Mark Aaron Unruh, Yuting Qian, Yongkang Zhang, Hye-Young Jung; 8/25In this cohort study, receipt of care from a SNFist [skilled nursing facility specialist] vs a non-SNFist was associated with a 7% decrease in the odds of a hospitalization and a 7% decrease in the odds of an emergency department visit for an ambulatory care–sensitive condition among residents with dementia. Findings of this cohort study suggest that the use of SNFists by NHs [nursing homes] may enhance the quality of care for residents with ADRD [Alzheimer disease and related dementias].