Jul 26, 2022 by F. Amos Bailey, MD Melissa C Palmer, LCSW, ACHP-SW, APHSW-C, JD

Many of our patients above the age of 65 have the challenge of sorting through Medicare insurance options through the Social Security Administration (SSA) that all Americans who have paid into the system (40 quarters to be exact) are eligible to receive when they reach retirement age. For many people, Medicare is the only way they can afford medical care.

Jul 19, 2022 by Melissa C Palmer, LCSW, ACHP-SW, APHSW-C, JD

Palliative care is an emotionally taxing practice at times, and in our roles in the interdisciplinary team we are trained and encouraged to take care of our own psychological and spiritual well-being.

Jul 12, 2022 by Nancy Robertson, DNP

Has anyone noticed how a quick internet search for “palliative care” immediately pulls up lists of advertisements for nursing homes? I am puzzled by these results.

Jul 5, 2022 by Melissa C Palmer, LCSW, ACHP-SW, APHSW-C, JD

When I was working with a community-based palliative care and hospice program, some of our patients lived in a local assisted living facility. Often our patients had outlived their family members and loved ones, and the other residents in the assisted living became their family and significant others.

Jun 28, 2022 by F. Amos Bailey, MD

It was a strange request. “Could you meditate with this patient in the ICU?” When Kevin was admitted, he listed his religious affiliation as Buddhist. Now seriously ill in the ICU, the primary team suspects he has advanced cancer. When I came to visit, he looked surprisingly well. Kevin identified as a middle-aged Black man with smooth skin and normal weight; it was hard to believe he was so ill.

Jun 21, 2022 by Melissa C Palmer, LCSW, ACHP-SW, APHSW-C, JD

In honor of PRIDE month, I re-watched the documentary “Gen Silent”, directed by Ben Mattux. The people who fought for equity and safety for the LGBT community are now finding themselves returning to the closet out of fear of victimization, othering and marginalization at group living communities for older adults.

Jun 14, 2022 by Nancy Robertson, DNP

While palliative care has made tremendous headway as its own specialty, referrals continue to be placed late in the trajectory of serious illness. With the plethora of studies proving the effectiveness of palliative care in supporting those living with serious illnesses and those that love them as well as decreasing healthcare costs, I continue to be perplexed as to why there continues to be a hesitancy in referring early.

Jun 7, 2022 by Devin Gilhuly, MD Katherine Morrison, MD Kerry "Nellie" O'Connor, MD

There are many tasks and distractions that demand our attention during the work day. The average employee reports spending 40% of their time and energy on tasks that are unimportant to them; leaving only 60% of their time and energy to focus on what is important to them.

May 31, 2022 by Nancy Robertson, DNP

Even though I live in a dry climate where rainstorms are few and far between, I still carry an umbrella in my car. I only needed to get caught once in a sudden raging rainstorm to never want to be in that situation again without the protection of an umbrella.

May 24, 2022 by Julie Jones, MD

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) is defined by the authors as “the administration of a lethal substance by a medical practitioner to a consenting person to intentionally cause their death or prescribing a substance that the eligible person takes themselves, in order to bring about death.” This study was conducted in Canada and MAID was legalized there in 2016.

May 17, 2022 by Loren Steinfeldt, MSPC

One fateful day on my very first clinical, I was assigned to a young woman with breast cancer that had turned into leukemia post-treatment. She was very weak, and her husband and two young girls were going to visit that day. I helped her bathe, and it was one of those seminal moments where I really began to understand the truth of care-giving.

May 10, 2022 by Laura Foster, MD

In life and especially in palliative care, we hear overwhelmingly sad stories. How to respond? How not to respond?

May 3, 2022 by Nancy Robertson, DNP

She was a strikingly beautiful woman. She lived life fully, juggling her catering business with raising her kids, being a partner to her doting husband, and occasionally doing a favor for friends and serving as a model for their restaurant business. Life was good. Until the dentist found a lump.

Apr 26, 2022 by Katherine Morrison, MD Devin Gilhuily, MD Kerry "Nellie" O'Connor, MD

In our busy lives, it can be tempting to create more hours in the day by sacrificing the time we spend sleeping. However, sleep is essential to our well-being—benefits of high-quality sleep include memory consolidation, improved cognitive performance (alertness, attention, and vigilance), and improved mood regulation.

Apr 19, 2022 by Beth Patterson, MA, Certified Palliative Care Chaplain

In my email this week was a link to the On Being blog, called ‘The Pause’. I read it early in a week which holds the anniversary of both of my parents’ deaths; my mother’s when I was 23. This story resonated in a way that felt like it might be worth sharing with our palliative care network.

Apr 12, 2022 by Amber Walters

The common theme of my palliative care rotation has been an inability to identify my own emotions. Without warning, some unidentifiable but powerful emotion will hit me square in the chest and before I can even label it, BAM!

Apr 5, 2022 by Layne Anderson

Patty*, a woman who had already been in the hospital for weeks, was facing impossibly difficult decisions regarding how she would choose to live. Would she follow her sisters’ wishes and attempt to regain strength with a feeding tube in her nose for another month in the hospital to then be reevaluated for surgery and possibly end up in what could be the same predicament? Or would she choose to go home to live her days unattached to machines to be enjoyed with her family comfortably?

Mar 29, 2022 by Christine Merchant MSPC BSN RN CHPN

During this past two year struggle with Covid-19, we were consulted for those long term ICU vented patients that were not progressing. The majority were unvaccinated, ventilator dependent, and families were not about to give up. Intensivist’s getting frustrated after sometimes weeks of discussions would reach out to the palliative team to see if perhaps a different dialogue could somehow change things. I became known as the Covid support nurse.

Mar 22, 2022 by Beth Patterson, MA, Certified Palliative Care Chaplain

For some, the term ‘doula’ brings to mind home and alternative birthing scenes.  The term has been borrowed from the birthing movement to add a layer of support to the deathing movement. You may begin to hear the term ‘end of life doula’ from your patients and their families, as the movement gains traction.

Mar 15, 2022 by Will Brandon

I saw many family meetings throughout my time with the palliative care team, but one stands out and will shape how I approach future patients. This was a patient with multiple severe GI pathologies occurring and had unclear goals of care.