Customer Reviews

Improving Care for the End of Life: A Sourcebook for Health Care Managers and Clinicians

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After more than fifteen years in health care as a medical social worker, I've seen my share of QI ideas. Believe me, this is the best book I've ever seen on this subject. It is everything you as a health care professional would need to get serious about using quality improvement to make real changes in practice--and in principle. If you work in end-of-life care and are tired of seeing patients with unrelieved pain, want to move beyond the living will to comprehensive advance care planning, are willing to recognize the role of spirituality in bereavement--just for example--the information you need is here. This is not your ordinary quality improvement book. It talks about real action and practical ways to change entrenched systems. The quotes at the beginning of the chapters are from Will Rogers and Yoda and Anonymous: "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic." The authors, Dr. Joanne Lynn, Janice Lynch Schuster, and Andrea Kabcenell, have a penchant for clear writing and well-organized outlines. The book is sponsored by the Center to Improve Care of the Dying and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. If you are ready to start improving end-of-life care tomorrow, read the book today.

I was expecting a lot more out of this book. If you have been doing end of life care for a while, this book doesn't help at all. I am going to resell it.