Journal of palliative medicine
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To understand how oncologists provide care at the end of life, the emotions they experience in the provision of this care, and how caring for dying patients may impact job satisfaction and burnout. ⋯ Physicians' who viewed EOL care as an important role described communicating with dying patients as a process and reported increased job satisfaction. Further research is necessary to determine if educational interventions to improve physician EOL communication skills could improve physician job satisfaction and decrease burnout.
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The degree to which nursing homes have internal programs for hospice and palliative care is unknown. We used self-reported data from the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) to estimate the prevalence of special programs and (specially) trained staff (SPTS) for hospice or palliative/end-of-life care in U.S. nursing homes. Factors associated with the presence of SPTS for hospice or palliative/end-of-life care were identified. ⋯ The presence of internal SPTS for hospice or palliative/end-of-life care is prevalent in U.S. nursing homes, and may be preceded by hospice contracting and/or the implementation of specialty programs that assist nursing homes in developing the expertise needed to establish their own palliative care programs.
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To describe acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) and memantine use among persons over the age of 65 admitted to hospice with a primary diagnosis of dementia and identify patient and hospice program characteristics associated with the use of these agents. ⋯ A notable number of hospice enrollees with a primary diagnosis of dementia were prescribed AChEI and/or NMDA receptor antagonist therapy. Studies are needed to better define the role of these agents as well as the impact of medication discontinuation in persons with end-stage dementia.