Literature Review

The feedback fix: A leadership playbook for scaling listening in hybrid teams Forbes; by Eric Johnson; 2/28/25 When I stepped into the CEO role at SurveyMonkey, I quickly learned that modern leadership isn’t just about making decisions—it’s about listening. At a time when workplace trends like quiet quitting and “resenteeism” reveal the undercurrents of employee disengagement, leaders must ask: Are we doing enough to listen to our teams? ... Here’s how we turned listening into action, using a simple but powerful framework called "strategy circles."

VNA Hospice NWI celebrates staff, volunteers and community at annual dinner banquet NWI.Life; by Garrett Spoor; 3/4/25 For more than half a century, VNA Hospice NWI has been assisting seniors in Northwest Indiana with hospice care and the Meals on Wheels program. The organization hosted its Annual Dinner and Awards banquet on Monday, March 3, ... “The big purpose of the annual dinner is to thank all the people who made last year possible,” [Maria Galka, director of development] said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to show our appreciation for the staff, volunteers and our supporters. We present our annual report from the past fiscal year and look forward to what's coming in the new year.” ... VNA Hospice NWI was presented with a check for $32,798 from Don Quijote Restaurante to support VNA Meals on Wheels. The Legion Riders Post #94 provided a check for $12,500 for the VNA Hospice NWI. The dinner presented plenty of awards and scholarships to recognize some of the attendees ...Editor's note: What appreciation events and awards/recognitions do your organization regularly provide for your employes, volunteers, and community? Click on this article's title to explore the scope of this organization's highly valued Annual Dinner and Awards. When you have events such as these, remember to take provide "take-out" food for your employees who are duty elsewhere, like your on-call office and hospice inpatient care.

Qualitative analysis through the lens of minority nurses American Nurse; by Sonya Moore, PhD, RN, CRNA; Carolyn Still, PhD, RN; and Siobhan Aaron, PhD, RN; 3/4/25 Many argue that experiences of discrimination, racism, and microaggression (intentional or unintentional) serve as key barriers to the recruitment and retention of diverse nurses. Iheduru-Anderson, who interviewed 30 Black nurses, noted that despite an increase in the number of Black nurses in the U.S. workforce over time, they remain significantly underrepresented in leadership and faculty positions. The study identified several themes that contribute to lack of advancement, including maintaining White comfort, distrust, lack of role models and representation, expectations about leadership roles, and the ineffectiveness of advanced degrees in securing advancement. 

Medical student brings music to end-of-life care CBS News Mornings; by Elizabeth Cook, Analisa Novak; 3/4/25 Melanie Ambler, a Stanford medical student, uses music to comfort patients in palliative care, composing songs based on their life stories. Her work, which blends medicine and the arts, has caught the attention of leading researchers and changed her own perspective on life and death. ... [After asking the perons meaningful, relevant questions about their life, Melanie composes personalized music on the spot, in the moment. Like,]  "transport me to your favorite place on earth," or "what are you famous for within your friends or your family," and when I get that response I then can accentuate some of the drama or the emotions or the personality and energy that the patient and the family share with me. You enter these patients' lives at the end of their life. 

4 strategies to build trust in new technologies and drive meaningful change Kyndryl; by Farhaz Thobani; 3/3/25 Four strategies every organization can use to build trust in new technologies and drive successful transformation:

Lent comes providentially to reawken us, to shake us from our lethargy. ~ Pope Francis Honoring Ash Wednesday, the worldwide ushering in of Lent 2025

Duke Health, Novant to partner Becker's Hospital CFO Report; by Madeline Ashley; 3/4/25 Durham, N.C.-based Duke University Health System and Charlotte, N.C.-based Novant Health have shared plans to partner and build new campuses across the state to expand care. Under the partnership, clinicians from both systems will offer services in new locations to increase primary care and advanced specialty treatment access. The partnership also aims to reduce wait times, create more appointment availability and increase virtual access to specialists, according to a March 3 news release shared with Becker's. 

The project: This is hospice care PA Mediapoint, United Kingdom; 3/1/25 Hospice UK approached us to support the launch of their national “This is Hospice Care” campaign. The campaign aimed to raise awareness about hospice care and encourage people to leave a gift in their will to their local hospice. ... To further strengthen the campaign’s storytelling, we encouraged hospice nurses to bring objects representing the diverse services offered by hospices. Some of props included a pug to represent pet therapy, a potted plant symbolising hospice gardens and outdoor spaces, a birthday cake reflecting the sense of community and celebration within hospices, and a gift box to emphasise the theme of leaving a legacy. Bringing together nurses from twelve hospices, the shoot successfully blended visual storytelling with the core campaign messages. The imagery not only highlighted the importance of hospice care but also created compelling content for national and regional media.Editor's note: This creative initiative can be adapted easily for hospice teams (clinical and non-clinical), volunteers, and more. Click on the title's link to read more about this project's meaningful design, implementation, and outcoms.

My mother and brother have terminal cancer. I'm worried I won't feel anything when they die. Business Insider; essay by Kimanzi Constable; 3/1/25 ... My brother was diagnosed with Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) three years ago, and my mother found out she had stage four lung cancer a year ago. I got a call earlier this year that the cancer was spreading, and I flew to spend time with them. I knew it would be hard seeing them battling late-stage cancer, but what I walked into was my brother in the Advanced Cancer Care Center, unable to move, and my mother wanting to hold an "end of life" planning meeting. It was worse than I anticipated. It was hard to see him not moving and the nurses having to help him do everything. My mother looked like she weighed 50 pounds ... I'm worried I won't feel anything when they pass away. ... I think it might be just another day when they pass away. I've been thinking — what does that say about me? Am I a bad person for not falling on the ground and losing it for over half of my family dying? Or is this nothingness an OK feeling due to the complicated relationship we've had most of my life? ... Editor's note: Leaders, welcome to the daily world of your clinicians, especially your social workers, chaplains, and grief counselors. Read this with openness to the normalcy of this author's conflicted relationships, emotions, thoughts, and empowered actions toward "not wanting to regret how I handled this opportunity to say goodbye more healthily."

'Shouldn't be something that's feared': She helps people face the end of life with dignity News Chief, part of the USA TODAY Network, Lakeland, FL; by Thomas R. Oldt; 3/2/25 Allow me to introduce a perfectly lovely person you may not wish to meet. She’s fostered rescue dogs, advocated for domestic violence victims, volunteered for foreign medical missions and worked emergency rooms throughout Central Florida. She is exceptionally empathetic, intensely focused and candid to a fault. She is also highly conversant in a subject most of us prefer to avoid. For the past seven years, Dr. Danielle Christiano has been staff physician at Good Shepherd Hospice in Auburndale where – in contrast to most other places – death is not a verboten subject. ... [Question:] What do you say or do to alleviate fears that accompany the end of life? [Answer:] It depends on your definition of hope. And it depends on what you want out of this. My general prescription is very different from most doctors because I embrace joy. I want people to seek out the things that bring them joy, ...

Charges dismissed against chef accused of trying to kill his Monterey county mother KSBW Action News-8, Monterey, CA; by Felix Cortez; 2/28/25 A popular San Francisco area chef who was arrested along with his sister and charged with trying to kill their mother more than two years ago has had attempted murder charges dismissed against him. “In over 30 years of practice, this was one of the saddest cases I have ever seen and one of the most incompetent investigations by the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department that I have ever seen,” said Juliet Peck, the attorney for James Stolich. ... The mother was terminally ill and lived on a ranch off Highway 68 outside Salinas. “James’ mother’s only wish was to die at home without pain, surrounded by her daughter, son, and pets,” Peck said. But that never happened; Tinker died about a week later in a hospice facility, never to see her children again, because an emergency protective order obtained by the sheriff’s office prevented the children from visiting their dying mother. ... According to court documents, the daughter, Whitney, was the “agent designated to make all health care decisions for her mother,” which included administering medication to help alleviate her mother’s pain. ...The original criminal complaint alleging attempted murder charges said Whitney or a co-conspirator “crushed up pills with a mallet.” A close friend of Tinker was willing to testify that Whitney had no intent to kill her mother but was simply following her mother’s “directive to provide effective and sufficient palliative care even if it hastened her death.”Editor's note: This case raises numerous issues, including but not limited to community education (including law enforcement), Advance Directives, patient and caregiver education and support, MAiD (Medical Aid in Dying) or the End Of Life Option Act (EOLOA) in California, ethics, and the dying process (note that "the mother died about a week later in a hospice facility). 

Mardi Gras is a reminder to live life in full color. ~ Unknown Call out, celebrating the Louisana-Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Organization, located in New Orleans!

The Pennant Group to ramp up hospice, home health transactions during 2025 Hospice News; by Jim Parker; 2/28/25 The Pennant Group (Nasdaq: PNTG) plans to ramp up acquisitions later this year as it works to integrate assets purchased in late 2024. Among those deals was The Pennant Group’s acquisition of Signature Healthcare at Home’s hospice and home health assets for a price tag of $80 million which closed in January. The company also completed some senior living transactions. Pennant is on the hunt for more deals but will likely be more active later in the year.