Tag Archives: End-of-life care

Mortality Risk Assessment: A Tool for Planning End-of-Life Care

Nurse practitioners make inroads in advanced care planning

A recent study from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners shows that sharing realistic information with patients about their medical prognosis helps facilitate discussions about end-of-life care. The study, published in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners … Continue reading

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Important Changes to California’s POLST Law

Nurse practitioners and physician assistants can now sign end-of-life orders

As of Jan. 1, 2016, nurse practitioners and physician assistants acting under the supervision of a physician are authorized under California’s newly enacted Assembly Bill 637 to sign Physician’s Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment forms. Also known as POLST, the … Continue reading

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When Your Dying Loved One Refuses Food

As your loved one’s body fails, feed their soul with kindness and love

Join SevenPonds each month as Tani Bahti, RN, CT, CHPN, offers practical on-hand guidance to demystify the dying process. As an RN since 1976, Tani has been working to empower families and healthcare professionals to have the best end-of-life experience possible both through education and the … Continue reading

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Assessing the Quality of Death in 80 Countries Across the World

The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2015 Quality of Death Index

The 2015 Quality of Death Index, developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, measures the availability, affordability and quality of palliative care available to adults across 80 countries around the world.  The Quality of Death Index was commissioned by a Singaporean … Continue reading

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What Can Hospice Teach Us About Coping? An Interview with Mary York

Hospice volunteers tell personal stories through the Windows Within Project

Today, SevenPonds speaks with Mary York, founder of the Windows Within Project, part of the Hospice Volunteer program. An experienced hospice volunteer, Mary also interviews fellow hospice volunteers for the Windows Within Project website, whose goal is to educate readers … Continue reading

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A Clash Between Science and Culture

How western medicine came to grips with centuries-old burial traditions in West Africa

When the Ebola epidemic ravaged West Africa in 2014 through 2015, much of the Western world was focused on one thing – containing the disease. But in the villages of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, where the virus claimed over … Continue reading

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