Literature Review

Blue Ridge Care unveils new hospice nursing scholarship Hospice News; by Holly Vossel; 5/12/26 Blue Ridge Care has launched a new scholarship for prospective nurses at a local community college. The Helen Zebarth Nursing Scholarship was established in partnership with Laurel Ridge Community College to expand financial educational support and experience in hospice, palliative and community-based care. Scholarship recipients receive tuition funding and increased exposure to end-of-life care settings during their education. The scholarship comes at a critical time of need, according to Blue Ridge Care’s Chief Engagement Officer Kim Golanski and the organization’s COO Altonia Garrett. 

Thank a nurse 2026: reader submitted letters Portland Press Herald, Portland, ME; by various readers of the Portland Press Herald; 5/8/26

Closing the gender gap in medicine: 5 ways to support women physicians CAPC | Center to Advance Palliative Care; by  Laurel Kilpatrick, MD, FAAHPM and Sonia Malhotra, MD, MS, FAAP; 4/27/26 From allyship to advocating for systemic change, learn how you can you champion women physicians so they can lead and thrive. Having more women physicians in medicine isn’t just a matter of equity—it’s important for patient outcomes. ... The strategies outlined at the end of the blog apply to all female health care professionals, not just physicians. 

10 best, worst states for nurses in 2026 Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 4/28/26 ... To determine the best and worst states for nurses, the personal finance company evaluated all 50 states across two two dimensions: opportunity and competition, and work environment. Those dimensions were evaluated using 20 metrics, ranging from monthly average starting salary for nurses to average commute time. ... Here are the 10 best and worst states for nurses in 2026, per the ranking: Best: 1. Maine; 2. New Hampshire; 3. Washington; 4. Oregon; 5; Arizona; 6. West Virginia; 7. Minnesota; 8. Montana; 9. Connecticut; 10. Florida Worst: 50. Oklahoma; 49. North Dakota; 48. Alabama; 47. Mississippi; 46. South Dakota; 45. Louisiana; 44. Tennessee; 43. Arkansas; 42. Hawaii; 41. Virginia

What Gallup's recent data says about the emotional price of leadership Forbes; by Julian Hayes II; 4/25/26 Leadership offers deep fulfillment, but it's not without its challenges. Gallup's 2026 State of the Global Workplace report confirms this: leaders outperform all others in engagement and life satisfaction. ... Compared to individual contributors, leaders are more likely to report high levels of stress, anger, sadness, and loneliness by margins of 7, 12, 11, and 10 percentage points, respectively. ... Leadership, more often than not, entails a paradox: the people with the most authority, the highest compensation, and the greatest organizational influence are less likely to experience simple daily joys and other basic emotional pleasures than those several levels below them.

Nearly 40% of physicians report high moral distress, which significantly increases burnout Healio; by Josh Friedman; 4/21/26 An AMA survey of more than 9,000 individuals showed nearly 40% of physicians report high levels of moral distress, yet most U.S. adults experience none at their occupation. Physicians who reported high levels of moral distress had a significantly higher likelihood of burnout symptoms and intent to leave the profession. “Physicians want to do what they believe is right for patients. That’s what we want all health care professionals to do, prioritize patient care,” Michael A. Tutty, PhD, MHA, group vice president of professional satisfaction and practice sustainability at AMA, told Healio. “Leaders need to think about how we can reduce or eliminate those ethical challenges that make it harder for physicians to provide high-quality patient care.”

Supporting family caregivers at work benefits employers too, report offers McKnights Home Care; by Kathleen Steele Gaivin; 4/17/26 Few employers are doing anything to support workers who are family caregivers, despite sometimes seeing the effects unpaid caregiving has on the workplace, such as absenteeism and underperformance, according to a report from CareBenefits by Care.com, published Wednesday [4/15]. The business implications are becoming clear, the authors said, adding that employers can support workers by offering family caregiving-related benefits.

Google.org and Johnson & Johnson Foundation launch $10 million AI training program for rural U.S. healthcare workers Complete AI Training; Press Release; 4/14/26 Google.org and the Johnson & Johnson Foundation are launching a $10 million program to train rural U.S. healthcare workers to use AI tools for administrative tasks. The initiative targets operational efficiency in clinics facing chronic staffing shortages and administrative overload. ... According to the National Rural Health Association, over 130 rural hospitals have shut down since 2010, with administrative burden cited as a major factor. The new program addresses this directly by teaching healthcare workers to use AI for scheduling, patient documentation, and clinic operations. 

The leadership bottleneck: why you’re slowing your team down Forbes; by Daisy Auger-Dominguez; 4/13/26 ... Two weeks into a new leadership role, a manager came to me with a familiar question: “I need help handling a performance issue with someone on my team.” It was a reasonable ask. Over the course of my career as a Chief People Officer, I’ve helped countless new and seasoned managers navigate that conversation. ... This time, I asked something different: “What would help you make this a better decision?” The manager paused. “Honestly? I’m not sure.” That moment told me something important, not about the manager, but about the system around them.

Repeated exposure to trauma narratives and professional quality of life in palliative and end-of-life healthcare providersPalliative & Supportive Care; by Suzanne A Brier, Amy L Nadel, Charlotte Stone, Rebecca M Schwartz; 3/26This study examined how repeated exposure to trauma narratives influences professional quality of life, including burnout, secondary traumatic stress (STS), and compassion satisfaction (CS), among end-of-life healthcare providers.  Conclusions: Repeated exposure to trauma narratives is a meaningful occupational stressor for end-of-life clinicians. Resilience and organizational support appear to protect against the negative impact of trauma exposure and promote CS, highlighting key multilevel targets for trauma-informed workforce interventions. Furthermore, by identifying specific resilience factors and support systems that buffer against psychological distress, these findings offer actionable insights for developing targeted interventions to mitigate long-term professional harm.

‘No silver bullet’: The iterative staffing strategies home-based care providers need Home Health Care News; by Morgan Gonzales; 3/26/26 The home-based care staffing landscape is undergoing a shift, as worker demographics, desires and motivations evolve. ... [There] there is no single technique that serves as a panacea, and providers must continually iterate their strategies, according to Kerin Zuger, the chief operating officer at Caretech. “There is no silver bullet,” Zuger said on a recent Home Health Care News webinar. “What do we need to do with our recruiting and onboarding strategy so that we can hire more caregivers and get them to stay? The answer is, everything. The answer is, try it all and then try it again. 

AI is coming for admin jobs, CFOs sayBecker's Hospital Review; by Andrew Cass; 3/24/26 Artificial intelligence is expected to disproportionately affect routine, clerical and administrative roles, while having a limited near-term impact on overall employment, The Wall Street Journal reported March 24.  The Journal cited findings from a working paper recently published on the National Bureau of Economic Research website. The study, produced with economists from the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Richmond, surveyed about 750 CFOs across multiple industries between late 2025 and early 2026. Five things to know: ...