Hospice Management Advisor Archives – August 1, 2009
August 1, 2009
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Action from FDA results in some hospice drug shortages
Hospice medical directors still are finding shortages of certain opioid medications three months after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) notified manufacturers of certain types of opioid medications that they would no longer be able to manufacture the drugs. -
Start with lowest dosage to allay patient's fears
An added challenge to changing a patient's pain medication due to a shortage of a specific drug is the resistance of many patients and family members to using opioid medications. -
New challenge coming from FDA
Although hospices and drug manufacturers are finding solutions and alternatives to pain medications to address the current drug shortage, the more critical challenge is the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) close look at drugs that are typically considered drugs of abuse, says Phyllis Grauer, PharmD, CGP, RPh, clinical consultant at Palliative Care Consulting Group, a Dublin, OH-based division of HospiScript Services. -
Care for caregiver to avoid low morale and burnout
Due to the altruistic nature of most health care providers, members of the giving professions often put their own needs last, often to the detriment of themselves, their colleagues, their personal lives and sometimes their patients. -
Paper highlights initiatives, interventions
About 12 years ago, Cynda Hylton Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN, and others at Johns Hopkins University set about to examine the issue of nurse self-care and the quality of care being delivered in pediatric palliative care. -
Self-care of physicians: Strategies for care
Physicians may be operating in burnout mode, or suffering from other maladies related to distress and stress, long before they are even aware of it, according to Michael K. Kearney, MD, one of the authors of a paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association titled "Self-care of physicians caring for patient at the end of life: "being connected ... a key to my survival." -
What is burnout vs. compassion fatigue?
The three primary characteristics of burnout are: emotional and physical exhaustion; depersonalization, or feelings of cynicism and detachment from one's job; and sense of lack of personal accomplishment, according to Christina Maslach, PhD, professor in the Psychology Department, University of California, Berkeley. -
Tips for moving those with special needs
People with special medical needs need to plan their evacuation before a hurricane hits. -
Bill calls for more informed choices at end of life
Health reform legislation introduced by Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) strengthens the quality and availability of counseling, support services, and care management for patients with life-limiting illnesses. -
Journal Review: Palliative sedation is option for intractable pain
Although palliative sedation is used in hospitals to control intractable pain, there is little literature describing its use in a home setting for hospice patients. -
End-of-life education important for doctors
Although physicians play a key role in providing end-of-life care, they do not receive training specific to palliative care in residency programs. -
Caregivers, providers view short enrollment differently
Although hospice providers say hospice enrollments of less than two weeks are inadequate for symptom control and counseling support for the family, patients' families don't view short enrollments in the same way. -
Web site promotes venue for cancer patients
Caring Voices is a web site set up to promote communication among cancer survivors and cancer patients and also between patients and providers.