Tuesday January 21st, Governor Phil Murphy signed two palliative care bills that were passed this past December. The bills will improve access to palliative care and end-of-life care in the state of New Jersey.
The bills going into action require palliative care staff to follow annual training and educational materials will be made in order to inform patients, their families and the general public about hospice and palliative care. The implementation of both bills are expected to open up the conversation about hospice and palliative care.
The two bills coming into action could not have come at a better time. As a recent study of the US National Library of Medicine has indicated that there is currently a great misconception about what hospices and palliative care is and its benefits. Causing terminally ill patients to miss out on much needed care.