Sean O'Mahony1, Stacie Levine2, Aliza Baron2, Tricia J Johnson3, Aziz Ansari4, Ileana Leyva5, Michael Marschke6, Eytan Szmuilowicz7, Catherine Deamant8. 1. 1 Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA. 2. 2 University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. 3. 3 Rush University, Chicago, IL, USA. 4. 4 Loyola University Hospital, Maywood, IL, USA. 5. 5 Cadence Health Central Dupage Hospital, Winfield, IL, USA. 6. 6 NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL, USA. 7. 7 Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, Chicago, IL, USA. 8. 8 Journey Care, Glenview, IL, USA.
Abstract
AIMS: Our primary aims were to assess growth in the local hospital based workforce, changes in the composition of the workforce and use of an interdisciplinary team, and sources of support for palliative medicine teams in hospitals participating in a regional palliative training program in Chicago. METHODS: PC program directors and administrators at 16 sites were sent an electronic survey on institutional and PC program characteristics such as: hospital type, number of beds, PC staffing composition, PC programs offered, start-up years, PC service utilization and sources of financial support for fiscal years 2012 and 2014. RESULTS: The median number of consultations reported for existing programs in 2012 was 345 (IQR 109 - 2168) compared with 840 (IQR 320 - 4268) in 2014. At the same time there were small increases in the overall team size from a median of 3.2 full time equivalent positions (FTE) in 2012 to 3.3 FTE in 2013, with a median increase of 0.4 (IQR 0-1.0). Discharge to hospice was more common than deaths in the acute care setting in hospitals with palliative medicine teams that included both social workers and advanced practice nurses ( p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Given the shortage of palliative medicine specialist providers more emphasis should be placed on training other clinicians to provide primary level palliative care while addressing the need to hire sufficient workforce to care for seriously ill patients.
AIMS: Our primary aims were to assess growth in the local hospital based workforce, changes in the composition of the workforce and use of an interdisciplinary team, and sources of support for palliative medicine teams in hospitals participating in a regional palliative training program in Chicago. METHODS: PC program directors and administrators at 16 sites were sent an electronic survey on institutional and PC program characteristics such as: hospital type, number of beds, PC staffing composition, PC programs offered, start-up years, PC service utilization and sources of financial support for fiscal years 2012 and 2014. RESULTS: The median number of consultations reported for existing programs in 2012 was 345 (IQR 109 - 2168) compared with 840 (IQR 320 - 4268) in 2014. At the same time there were small increases in the overall team size from a median of 3.2 full time equivalent positions (FTE) in 2012 to 3.3 FTE in 2013, with a median increase of 0.4 (IQR 0-1.0). Discharge to hospice was more common than deaths in the acute care setting in hospitals with palliative medicine teams that included both social workers and advanced practice nurses ( p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Given the shortage of palliative medicine specialist providers more emphasis should be placed on training other clinicians to provide primary level palliative care while addressing the need to hire sufficient workforce to care for seriously ill patients.
Authors: Joshua R Lakin; Sophia N Zupanc; Charlotta Lindvall; Edward T Moseley; Sophiya Das; Kate Sciacca; Howard J Cabral; Edith A Burns; Maria T Carney; Jennifer Itty; Santiago Lopez; Kaitlin Emmert; Narda J Martin; Sherene Lambert; Jennifer Polo; Shreya Sanghani; Julianne N Dugas; Michele Gomez; Michael R Winter; Na Wang; Shira Gabry-Kalikow; Alexandra Dobie; Meredith Amshoff; Traci Cucinotta; Milton Joel; Lisa B Caruso; Ana Maria Ramirez; Kathleen Salerno; Qausarat Ogunneye; Lori Henault; Aretha Delight Davis; Angelo Volandes; Michael K Paasche-Orlow Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2022-07-25 Impact factor: 3.006