Literature Review

Liberty Hospice provides Thanksgiving for 7 families Lake Gaston Gazette-Observer, Gaston, NC; by Mark Mathews; 11/27/24 Liberty Hospice volunteers recently traveled to the Pleasant Hill Christian Church kitchen in Gasburg to prepare Thanksgiving meals for seven families. “The families were selected as those who would benefit the most by our wonderful Liberty Hospice Health Care team,” Liberty Hospice Regional Volunteer Coordinator Esther Harris said. “As it turned out, two of the families preferred to have us bring all the fixings to them and they were going to the cooking themselves for Thanksgiving.” ...  Harris approached DrugCo Discount Pharmacy Chief Financial Officer Neal White about helping her group with the Thanksgiving meals. She received a better-than-expected response. “I was looking for help to buy some turkey and maybe some ham,” Harris said. “Mr. White asked me how much I thought it would cost to do the entire meal for each of the seven families. I gave him a number and they donated the entire amount. So we thank DrugCo who is just a wonderful community partner.”

Aged care nursing in the digital future Atlassian Jira, Australia; by Flinders University; 11/27/24 The results call for nurses to be included when digital innovations are in development, so they can actively shape their implementation and ensure high-quality, compassionate care for residents in their final stages of life. "In Australia and around the world, we have seen a significant increase in digital technologies in the health care sector," says study lead author Dr. Priyanka Vandersman, a Senior Research Fellow at Flinders University's Research Center for Palliative Care, Death and Dying (RePaDD).  "In aged care, these digital approaches can include helping with care planning and assisting with managing medication, but we need to ensure that nurses are equipped with the digital skills needed to use these tools effectively, while continuing to provide high quality, person-centered care."

5 behaviors that demonstrate highly effective leadership Fast Company - Leadership Now;  by Shirley Davis; 11/25/24 Have you ever worked for a leader who made a mistake, a bad decision, or didn’t know the answer to something and, rather than admit it, they deflected it by blaming someone else, justifying it, or acting like it didn’t happen? This lack of accountability happens all too often in the workplace and it undermines trust, engagement, and communication. Leadership accountability is at the heart of any organization’s ability to achieve optimal performance and build a strong culture. Workers today place a higher premium on their leaders walking the talk and being more accountable. At a time when we continue to experience accelerated change, increased complexities, growing pressures, and competing priorities, demonstrating accountability as a leader couldn’t be more critical. In fact, accountability was one of eight key factors driving positive work-related outcomes according to McKinsey & Company’s The State of Organizations 2023 report. The report also found that organizations with high leadership accountability tend to be healthier. 

Faith Home Health and Hospice to take over Holton Hospital’s home-based care programs Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 11/27/24 Kansas-based Faith Home Health and Hospice will acquire the home-based care operations of Holton Community Hospital. The hospital in September announced that it would be closing its home health and hospice services as of Dec. 31, citing “significant financial challenges brought on by changes in health care payment models, the expansion of Medicare replacement plans and increasing competition from other agencies.” “[The two organizations are] actively working towards finalizing a purchase agreement that ensures [the hospital’s] dedicated local staff will continue to provide compassionate care to the community,” Holton Community Hospital CEO, Carrie Lutz, said in a press release. 

No One Dies Alone: new Parker hospital program offers companionship to those at the end of life Parker Chronicle; by Haley Lena; 11/27/24 Katherine Wiley, a volunteer at AdventHealth Parker, was in the hospital’s emergency department when she saw first-hand how being alongside a stranger during their final moments of life can have a profound impact on those around them. Wiley sat with an elderly woman who was dying with no one around. The patient’s sons were trying to get to the hospital from Colorado Springs but didn’t make it in time. “When they got there, I told them that I had been with their mom so she was not alone and they were very grateful,” said Wiley. Wiley shared this story with the CEO of the hospital, Michael Goebel, at the annual volunteer luncheon last year, and the following week, the No One Dies Alone program was being set up. “We can provide companionship to patients in the dying process who are truly alone,” said Wiley. “In doing so, (it) provides a gift of respect and dignity to another human being at the end of life.” The volunteers of the program are called “compassionate companions.” They do not provide medical care, but they assist with comfort care measures – they sit beside the patient, hold their hands, play soothing music or read to the patients. For as many circumstances there are that lead a person to be hospitalized, there are also as many reasons why a patient is alone. The patient could have outlived other family members and friends, said Wiley, or are estranged from their family. It could be because the patients themselves don’t want to have their family see them die, but don’t want to be alone. Or they could be a John/Jane Doe who was in an accident. “We want to be there for them, whatever those reasons are,” said Wiley. “This sort of thing feeds my soul.”

How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. ~ John Burroughs

You treat a disease, you win, you lose. You treat a person, I guarantee you, you'll win, no matter what the outcome. ~ Patch Adams

I can't change you and you can't change me, but together we can work to change the world!  ~ Germany Kent

If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one. ~ Dolly Parton

We all require and want respect, man or woman, black or white. It’s our basic human right. ~ Aretha Franklin

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. ~  Aristotle

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. ~ Jimmy Johnson

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~ Mark Twain