Literature Review

Nearly 500 readers shared stories of deathbed visions. Here are 10. The Washington Post; by Caitlin Gibson and Stephanie Arrigotti; 7/26/26 When we pub­lished our recent project about end-of-life dreams and vis­ions, we invited Post read­ers to share their per­sonal exper­i­ences with this phe­nomenon. ... I hoped we might col­lect a few dozen anec­dotes. To date, we’ve received about 500 sub­mis­sions and count­ing. It’s been a priv­ilege to read every one. ... The major­ity of people who wrote in — no mat­ter how they made sense of what they’d seen — described an exper­i­ence that seemed to instill a sense of calm or solace in the per­son who was dying, and in turn, brought a last­ing com­fort to their bereaved care­givers. From those hun­dreds of accounts, here is a selec­tion of 10. The fol­low­ing are drawn from writ­ten sub­mis­sions and fol­low-up inter­views, and edited for length and clar­ity.

Caring with confidence: A guided approach to end-of-life careJournal of Pain & Symptom Management; Laura Maldoon, Stacy L. Nilsen; 6/26Nurses may face uncertainty when caring for dying patients due to inadequate education and experience. This uncertainty coupled with varying practices for end-of-life care may affect both care quality and nurses’ attitudes. In nurses caring for hospitalized End-of-Life patients, does having a guided End-of-Life template and care resources, compared to current practices, improve registered nurse attitudes in providing individualized end-of-life care? Two inpatient nursing units received a 30-minute End-of-Life educational intervention utilizing the City of Hope’s Comfort, Airway, Restlessness and Delirium, Emotional and Spiritual Support (CARES) toolset as a standard resource to assess and prioritize end-of-life symptom management and family communication. This project suggests improved comfort and confidence among RNs in providing end-of-life care with the use of the CARES toolset. Nurses also demonstrated increased interest in seeking additional education.

Only one in five U.S. young adults with advanced cancer receive palliative care as part of treatment, study shows American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA; Press Release; 7/23/26 Young adults with advanced cancer face unique challenges that make palliative care especially important. This population often experiences physical, emotional, and social needs while undergoing treatment, related to their developmental and life-stage transitions. However, a new study by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) reveals that despite a small increase in use over time, only 18.3% of young adults in the United States with advanced cancer received palliative care as part of treatment in 2023. The study is published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open. 

Palliative Care team manifests dreams of butterbeer and Harry Potter Vanderbilt Health News, Nashville, TN; by Jill Clendening; 7/20/26 After Mike Guth and his family learned that his pancreatic cancer had advanced beyond treatment, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team worked magic to make a dream trip possible. ... Mike, 53, a beloved high school social studies teacher in southern Indiana and father of four, was diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer in early 2025. ... Mike has always loved the magical lore of Harry Potter, excitedly consuming the books and movies with their children (now adults). Mike perhaps seized inspiration from the plot twists of the fantasy series to say he still longed to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. With careful planning to manage symptoms and stay on top of hydration, the Vanderbilt Health Palliative Care team surprised the Guths and said his dream was doable. ... Palliative care physician Zack Watson, MD described, "for him to have that time with his kids and his wife. Hopefully, this gave them an anchor of joy in the midst of this really tough time." On July 14, Mike died peacefully at home, surrounded by his loved ones.

Some kids come here for vacation. Others come to die. Either way, parents are grateful USA TODAY, San Leandro, CA; by Madeline Mitchell; 7/20/26 ... There are mainly two kinds of families who come to George Mark's Children's House. Some come for respite, entrusting their medically fragile but otherwise stable children to skilled nurses while parents leave for a much-needed break from around-the-clock caregiving. Others come for pediatric end-of-life care, a rare and essential service that changed the trajectory of CEO Shekinah Eliassen's life. These parents stay with their children at George Mark and can bring the patient's siblings, too, to soak in their last days together. "This type of service, I believe, should be part of the system of pediatrics," Eliassen says, adding that families never see a bill for their visits. Her son, Lars, died at George Mark when he was 21 days old, after he was born having seizures. 

An updated analysis of serious health-related suffering from 2021 to 2023 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management; by Afsan Bhadelia, Xiaoxiao Jiang Kwete, Tania Pastrana, Héctor Arreola-Ornelas, Jinfeng Ding, Oscar Méndez-Carniado, Lukas Radbruch, William E Rosa, Hongliang Tao, Valentina Vargas Enciso, Felicia Marie Knaul; 7/15/26 Results: Between 2021 and 2023, global serious health-related suffering (SHS) grew by 3.9% - outpacing population growth (1.8%) - driven by sharp increases in upper-middle-income countries (UMICs) (5.5%) and high-income countries (HICs) (5.2%) and notable condition-specific increases in SHS associated with lung disease (18.2%), inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (11.4%), and dementia (7.9%). Moreover, increases in SHS due to cancer were particularly stark in LICs (17.8%), while injuries markedly rose in HICs (15.9%).

Emotional and ethical impacts on healthcare professionals performing cardiopulmonary resuscitationAmerican Journal of Hospice & Palliative Medicine; by Patrick J. Macmillan, Susan Hughes, Dumindra Gurusinghe, Allison Go, Chase Lancaster, Iris Price; 6/26Many studies exist outlining poor outcomes related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) administered to patients who are elderly and/or have comorbid medical conditions with sudden cardiac arrest. Studies show only 10% of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and initial asystole survive until they reach the hospital. Less than 5% survive until hospital discharge with good neurologic function. This study presents data that suggests that there is an association between moral distress and performing CPR on individuals who are elderly with multiple comorbid medical conditions. More than sixty percent of our respondents were challenged emotionally during these types of code situations, and a similar number of healthcare workers felt the code could be considered unethical.

Nurse practitioner: my patient qualified for hospice. I couldn’t get her there The Examiner News; by Diane Pagan; 7/15/26 ... I’ve been Marie’s primary care nurse practitioner for seventeen months. She was referred to me at the time by her PCP because she could no longer physically manage going into the office. She suffered from dementia and her gait was worsening ... Marie’s daughter chose a hospice agency close to her home. The agency reviewed my referral and notes and accepted Marie into their program. The next step was to send them a Certificate of Terminal Illness (CTI) stating that Marie had a terminal illness with an anticipated life expectancy of 6 months or less. Then the obstacle arose. I couldn’t sign the form. ... The inability of nurse practitioners to sign a CTI does not stem from their lack of education or clinical expertise in determining when a patient is nearing end of life. The restriction is rooted in federal Medicare law, written more than 40 years ago, when the role of nurse practitioners was very different than it is today.

Japan pushes to expand children’s hospices through new consultation service Europe Says, Osaka, Japan; Press Release; 7/15/26 For children with life-limiting illnesses or severe disabilities, even simple experiences such as playing freely or having friends stay overnight can be difficult. Children’s hospices aim to make such experiences possible while also providing support for their families, and efforts are underway to expand the number of these facilities in Japan. Tsurumi Children’s Hospice in Osaka, which opened in 2016, launched a consultation service in April to help people establish similar facilities across the country.