Most residents’ life-sustaining treatment forms no longer match wishes, study shows
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 06, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of advanced care planning and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) after a new study found that less than half of the orders match the...
Missed opportunity: Patients fare poorly in long-term acute care hospitals
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 27, 2019
Most patients who recover in long-term acute care hospitals die within five years. Some may be missing a chance for more appropriate end-of-life care.
It’s not morbid to talk about death … a lot
By
Steven Littlehale
Dec 07, 2018
It’s not morbid to talk about death, even on the dance floor at your high school reunion.
What ‘do everything’ can mean
By
Angelo E. Volandes, M.D.
Feb 04, 2015
The day I met Mrs. Bartlett at my hospital, she was an 89-year-old long-stay nursing home resident with moderate-to-severe dementia who was being transferred to my hospitalist service for shortness of...
Hospice is growing fastest in skilled nursing facilities, new report shows
By
Tim Mullaney
Nov 05, 2014
Hospice services increased in nursing homes more than in any other care setting last year, according to the latest annual report from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Should we all want to die at 75?
By
Tim Mullaney
Sep 30, 2014
Nursing homes would be put out of business if scientists discover how to stop the aging process, McKnight’s Editorial Director John O’Connor wrote in his blog yesterday. But the reverse is...
AMA to submit information to federal regulators regarding end-of-life care planning
By
John Hall
Jun 03, 2014
The American Medical Association is expected to release recommendations soon for what physicians should be reimbursed for end-of-life medical consultations. The physicians group issues advisements regularly...
Why LTC organizations should conduct end-of-life planning conversations
By
Kerry Shannon
Apr 07, 2014
Advance end-of-life planning can spare patients unwanted, aggressive treatments and it can help physicians calibrate care in more reasonable manner.
Expanding support for families
By
Marian Hamilton
Jan 15, 2013
After my husband’s death in 2004, I thought how wonderful it would have been if there were a refuge in a hospital where caregivers could go to “escape” and recharge themselves — an...
Are you ready for The Conversation?
By
Mary Gustafson
Aug 23, 2012
There are few things I loathe more in the world than ice-breaking, “getting-to-know-you games.” The problem is, though, I’m exactly the kind of person who often needs an icebreaker to...