Hospice Management Advisor Archives – April 1, 2010
April 1, 2010
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Feasibility, financing, and design are keys to success of inpatient hospice
What am I doing? I'm a nurse. What do I know about building a hospice facility? -
Outside experts can help with capital campaign
One of the biggest challenges encountered by hospice administrators and board members who want to build an inpatient facility is funding the project, says Jim Faulkner, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, president of Dayton, OH-based Matrix Architects, an architectural firm that specializes in hospice. -
Homelike design appeals to patients and families
"It should look like Grandma's house." -
CANCER study: Physicians and end-of-life discussions
Most physicians reported in a national survey that they would discuss end-of-life options with a terminally ill patient only when there were no more treatments to offer that patient, not when the patient still was feeling well, according to a study published online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. -
Physicians are trained to treat
The real culprit for why physician conversations with patients about end-of-life care occur later rather than sooner is that physicians in medical schools primarily are trained to treat rather than talk, but that appears to be changing. -
Timing of discussion is sensitive to patients
End-of-life discussions can begin when someone is diagnosed with a life-limiting illness, says James A. Tulsky, MD, director of the Palliative Care Center at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, NC. -
Improve retention: Make safety a priority
Why should a home health manager pay close attention to employee safety? Not only are there legal and ethical reasons to do so, but employees who feel safe in their work environment are more likely to remain in their job. -
How to address report of a safety issue
Ensuring employee safety requires more than a set of policies and procedures. It requires immediate action and thorough investigation once an employee reports an unsafe situation, says Robert W. Markette Jr., an attorney with Gilliland & Markette in Indianapolis. -
Relationships explored for patients, caregivers
The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued a position paper to guide ethical relationships among patients, physicians, and caregivers. -
Checklist published for in-home palliative care
A study by Spanish researchers presents new information for palliative care teams that administer sedation to patients at home. -
Minorities with heart failure less likely to use hospice
Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure appear less likely to receive hospice care than white patients with the same condition, according to a report in the March 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. -
Parents weigh whether to hasten death
A survey of parents who had a child die of cancer found that one in eight considered hastening their child's death, a deliberation influenced by the amount of pain the child experienced during the last month of life, report researchers at Minneapolis-based Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. -
End-of-life experiences of children with brain tumors
Parents and clinicians caring for children with brain tumors might experience significant challenges near the end of life due to the neurologic deterioration that often occurs in these patients, according to a study in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. -
News Briefs: Company offers advance directive services
Embark Health, Daytona Beach, FL, now offers an online solution to help people plan for end-of-life health care decisions.