Nausea may be only the fourth most common symptom/complaint at end of life, but it is one of the most disruptive to both the patient and family members.

The LTC MEGA Rule Part II is effective as of November 28, 2017. The overall goal of the new regulations is the safe and effective use of medications.

The 2018 Wage Index and Payment Rate Update for Hospice includes significant wording differences compared to the current Conditions of Participation. These differences may cause hospice agencies to feel that they now must cover more medications. The Wage Index wording reads: "...hospice to cover all reasonable and necessary palliative care related to the terminal prognosis, [...]

It is that time of year again. The time of year when the cold weather drives everyone inside, where they huddle together with their electronic device of choice. They hack, sneeze, and cough passing the micro-organisms back and forth to one another until things warm up in April or May. There are two big questions [...]

Methadone has the ability to relieve a wide variety of pain types, is available in a “long acting” 10 mg/ml concentration, and it is low cost. All of these reasons make it an ideal analgesic for hospice. Many nurses and medical directors may be reluctant to use methadone because of its complex metabolism and their [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to inform employees how to identify the hazardous materials they may encounter in the workplace. However, many drugs are considered hazardous materials. If an employee is filling a pillbox, splitting/crushing tablets, or in any way coming in contact with medications, employers are required to make them [...]

Pneumonia and other infections are a common complication of dementia. Often, pneumonia is listed as the cause of death rather than the dementia itself. The question comes with each infection - treat or not to treat? The answer to this question leads to another question. What is the ultimate care goal: quality of life or [...]