Dear Members and Supporters -

 

Our first Nurses' Social Hour was a success! We enjoyed meeting some new folks and had an interesting and important discussion regarding medical aid in dying and the implications for nurses who practice in hospice and palliative care. This is an incredibly important topic and discussion for our specialty and our profession – we welcomed the dialogue and were glad to have the space to discuss this openly and with a range of opinions expressed. One thing we all agree on is that patients deserve high-quality and accessible palliative and hospice care and we all are responsible to advocate for adequate pain control, symptom management, and dignity for patients who are facing serious and terminal illness.  In follow-up to this discussion, we are sharing a few key resources pertinent to this topic:

 

HPNA Position Statement Physician-Assisted Death/Physician Assisted Suicide (document attached) 

 

ANA Position Statement: The Nurse’s Role When a Patient Requests Medical Aid in Dying

 

HPNA Guidelines for the Role of the Registered Nurse and Advanced Practice Nurse When Hastened Death is Requested (document attached)

 

In regards to the legislative status regarding this issue in Massachusetts, On February 8, the Massachusetts End of Life Options Act (H.2381/S.1384) was reintroduced for the 2021/2022 legislative session by sponsors Senator Jo Comerford (Hampshire, Franklin, and Worcester) and Representative Jim O’Day (Worcester).

 

We will be hosting this group every fourth Monday from 7-8 pm via Zoom. We hope to see more faces this month, our next social hour will be on Monday, May 24th, from 7-8 pm.  

 

Finally, we would like to have a name for this event that captures the spirit of providing space for networking, mentoring, support, and education. Some of our members have come up with some really fun and creative ideas. Please use this link to vote on your favorite name for our nurses' social hour. 

 

 

Once again, we welcome any hospice and palliative care nurses who live and/or practice in Massachusetts to join! Zoom link and flyer for the May event are attached. 

 

 

Best, 

 

The Board of The Boston Area Chapter of the HPNA