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Florence Wald, a former Yale nursing dean whose interest in compassionate care led her to launch the first U.S. hospice program, has died, according to the Associated Press (AP). She was 91.
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The year 2009 will represent a year of change for hospices with new conditions of participation, greater scrutiny of claims, and new requirements for data collection. What is not known is how the economy, along with sociological and political changes, will affect the industry.
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"Hospice nurse arrested for theft." ... "Family accuses hospice nurse of stealing from patient."
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Hospice nurses, aides, and therapists do a wonderful job caring for their patients, so it is natural that the patients and families want to thank them with gifts. Unfortunately, the size and type of gift can put the employee and agency into the uncomfortable position of being accused of theft if strict guidelines are not developed and followed.
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When treatment options dwindle or are exhausted, terminally ill patients often opt for pain management and comfort over life-extending therapies. However, researchers report that a lack of thorough understanding about the laws governing end-of-life care might leave providers with an ethical dilemma and cause some terminally ill patients considerable, unnecessary pain.
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Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) allows patients to control their own pain medication, but a new study published in the December 2008 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety shows that errors related to this practice are four times more likely to result in patient harm than errors that occur with other medications.
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The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) have created the advanced certified hospice and palliative social worker credential (ACHP-SW).
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The annual number of patients discharged from U.S. community hospitals to home health care rose 53% between 1997 and 2006, while the number discharged to long-term care and other facilities rose 30%, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a notice to update the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) for calendar year 2009.
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When Katie Westbrook was 14 years old, she and her mother, Beth Westbrook, made a monumental decision together. Katie, who had been battling osteosarcoma since she was 12, had already endured several rounds of chemotherapy, surgery to remove a tumor in her lower back, a leg amputation, and an inoperable tumor in her neck. She decided she was ready for hospice.
