mohana karlekar

September 1, 2023

Holding hands one more time: Compassion and collaboration allow couple to spend the most precious time together

Virginia and Tommy Stevens, both 91, have been married 69 years and this was the time they needed each other the most. Compassionate problem-solving by the Palliative Care Unit and the Trauma Intensive Care Unit teams brought the loving couple together one more time.

By Jill Clendening
Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Palliative Care Unit staff recently celebrated a decade of providing care to individuals facing severe illness or injury on the dedicated unit in the Round Wing of Medical Center North.
October 13, 2022

Palliative Care Unit celebrates a decade of providing patient- and family-centered care

Vanderbilt’s Palliative Care Unit is celebrating 10 years to patients and families.

By Jill Clendening
June 30, 2022

Vanderbilt Academy for Excellence in Education elects 26 new members

The Academy for Excellence in Education has elected the following 26 new members for 2022.

By VUMC News and Communications
The End of Life Care Plan is easily accessible on My Health at Vanderbilt.
December 2, 2020

My Health at Vanderbilt adds End of Life Care Plan

Improvements to the web-based My Health at Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Health’s online patient portal, have made it easier for health care teams — including patients and their designated health agents — to add and access an End of Life Care Plan to guide medical decision making.

By Jill Clendening
June 4, 2020

Bereavement calls helping to aid grieving families

There has been nothing normal about the COVID-19 pandemic, and grieving the loss of a life at a time when families have been unable to gather beside a bedside to say goodbye, or to even hold a traditional funeral, has been one of the worst consequences of this health crisis’s uncharted territory.

By Jill Clendening
September 12, 2019

Study shows benefit of palliative care for liver disease patients

A Vanderbilt study sheds new light on the impact of palliative care.

By Jill Clendening
June 13, 2019

Diversity of conference attendees mirrors increasing support for palliative care

More than 80 people attended a Palliative Care Conference in Nashville recently that was led by faculty members of the Palliative Care programs at VUMC and the Nashville VA Medical Center, and VUMC Center for Biomedical Ethics.
By Jill Clendening
April 4, 2019

Events to focus on education about advance directives

Health care professionals throughout the United States are encouraging patients and their families to document their preferences related to their health care during an awareness campaign known as National Healthcare Decisions Day, celebrated on Tuesday, April 16. Vanderbilt University Medical Center is hosting several events for employees to promote the importance of completing an advance directive for health care.
By Jill Clendening
April 12, 2018

Initiative stresses importance of advance directives

While many might prefer to not think about dying, healthcare professionals throughout the United States are encouraging patients and their families to do just that during a national awareness campaign April 16-22 that promotes the importance of completing an advance directive for healthcare.
By Jill Clendening
September 29, 2016

New VUMC educational series focuses on palliative care

A new series of lunch and learn events at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is designed to teach nurses and other medical professionals best practices for providing palliative care to patients at their bedsides.
By Matt Batcheldor
August 4, 2016

New initiative pairs volunteers with palliative care patients

As a nurse working with critically ill patients with orders to not resuscitate, Rebecca Hixson, R.N., has often lingered in a patient’s room to complete her routine charting if she felt they were nearing death and no family or friends were around. But Hixson now hopes a new volunteer program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) will mean these patients will always have someone by their side at the end of life.
By Jill Clendening
September 27, 2012

VUH debuts new unit dedicated to palliative care

When Mohana Karlekar, M.D., talks with patient families, she almost always asks what they know about palliative care, and the answer is almost always the same — “Not much.”
By VUMC News and Communications