Hospice Management Advisor Archives – July 1, 2010
July 1, 2010
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Standards for pediatric patients offer support for community hospice
With 53,000 children dying each year and another 400,000 children living with chronic, life-threatening conditions, the need for hospice and palliative care for pediatric patients continues to grow. -
Develop strategies to improve communication
Good communication between hospice staff, patients, and families is a critical part of quality hospice care. The challenge for many hospice staff members is communication when the patient is a child. -
Pediatric patients are more than 'little adults'
Caring for a pediatric hospice patient requires more than just a knowledge of hospice care... -
Hand hygiene woes impact C. diff response
An epidemic of Clostridium difficile (C. diff ) in the United States is killing some 12,000 patients annually, in part because neither alcohol hand rubs nor soap and water can effectively remove the spore-forming bacillus from hands, researchers are finding. -
Academic centers offer resources to colleagues
Smaller, community-based hospitals might face many of the same types of patient cases that require ethical decision-making; however, these hospitals often have fewer resources than large urban or academic centers with which to receive training in this area. -
New era of transparency on health infection data
In contrast to another recent federal report that cited little progress against health care associated infections (HAIs), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports an 18% decline in the national incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections. -
Oregon POLST registry secures 18,000 forms
A registry that serves as a collection point for Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms has collected forms from about 18,000 people in Oregon since the registry went live Dec. 3, 2009... -
Journal Review: Guidance for Muslim patient care
For Muslims at the death bed, spirituality and religious faith are the only empowering sources that help them to face death. -
Greater need for bereavement counseling
Family members of patients who died following Alzheimer's, lung cancer, and renal failure consistently required increased bereavement services, according to a study of families of a hospice provider in Kentucky. -
Practices evaluated for pain assessment
A study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management finds gaps in the use of evidence-based pain assessment and treatment practices for older adults with cancer in community-based hospice settings. -
News Briefs: NHPCO comments on palliative sedation
A statement about palliative sedation from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) offers guidance to hospice and palliative care professionals about the appropriate use of the technique. -
Society addresses ICD and pacemaker deactivation
A first of its kind consensus statement released by the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), developed in collaboration with other medical groups on both sides of the Atlantic, offers detailed guidance for physicians, allied professionals, and others in managing the complex issues they face when patients with pacemakers or implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are nearing the end of life or ask for device deactivation. -
ECRI Institute launches patient safety blog
ECRI Institute, a Plymouth Meeting, PA-based independent, nonprofit organization that researches approaches to improving patient care, announces the launch of its new Patient Safety Blog.