December 2021 | Issue 5 | Page 2
Palliative Care Team Highlight : University of Mississippi Medical Center
By Carole Ward , RN
For the past five years , Dr . Keith Mansel has led the Adult Inpatient Palliative and Supportive Care Services and served as Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship . After a career in pulmonary / critical care medicine , he completed a fellowship in palliative medicine at Mayo Clinic and continued there on staff for four years . With deep Mississippi roots , he returned to UMMC to begin an adult palliative program .
Dr . Mansel was joined a few months later by Carole Ward , a registered nurse with an interest in palliative care . Brooke Carroll left her role as a hospitalist nurse practitioner to join the team a couple of years later . Both Carole and Brooke are certified in palliative care .
The focus of the palliative team pre-pandemic was primarily on the development of the inpatient consulting service and education of residents and fellows rotating through the service , with a focus on development of communication skills for serious illness conversations . Many of the consults involved face-to-face family meetings with surrogate decision makers for critically ill patients .
Carole Ward , RN UMMC Palliative Care
As the pandemic made its way to Mississippi in March 2020 , the opportunity for face-to-face meetings changed abruptly . As visitation was locked down due to the quickly spreading COVID 19 virus , the palliative team was challenged to use telehealth technology for communication of bad news and goals of care discussions . This was difficult for the team and for the families who were no longer allowed to visit their dying loved ones . Attending the emotions of family members from a distance was a new challenge for the team as discussions now routinely occurred on a computer screen or telephone rather than in person . Helping technologically challenged families to connect on computers or iPads for on screen meetings was also time-consuming and not always successful .
The palliative team was appreciative , and continues to be , of COVID 19 resources through organizations such as CAPC ( The Center to Advance Palliative Care ), Ariadne Labs , numerous articles in academic medical journals and , most importantly , a consistent , informative , interactive and supportive virtual hospice and palliative care community , Project ECHO HPM CARES ( Hospice and Palliative Medicine COVID-19 Action and Resilience Education Support ) hosted by Four Seasons in Flat Rock , NC and funded by Cambia Health Foundation . This was a lifeline for the team for eighteen months beginning in June of 2020 . Elizabeth Burpee , MD hosted the sessions with guest speakers whose expertise included COVID-19 clinical concerns , communication topics and skills , health equity and social determinants of health , and resilience for providers .
Keith Mansel , MD UMMC Palliative Care