"Unexpected and Distressing": Understanding and Improving the Experience of Transferring Palliative Care Inpatients to Residential Care.

The survival of patients with advanced cancer, coupled with the increased presence of end-stage chronic illnesses in an aging population, is leading to a demand in palliative care. Due to the ongoing need for acute-pain and symptom control in hospice/palliative care units, few are able to offer long-stay admission for those whose symptoms have stabilized. When a patient no longer requires specialist palliative care services, transfer from an inpatient palliative care facility may then be necessary.

The National Pharmaceutical Stockpile Program: an overview and perspective for the Pacific Islands.

The National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NSP) program was created as a national resource and is an essential response component of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) larger Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Initiative. The role of the NPS program is to maintain a national repository of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies that can be delivered to communities in the event of a biological or chemical terrorist attack or an event involving mass casualties. The NPS is to be a re-supply and backup mechanism to state and local emergency response.