Upholding high standards of ethical conduct and advocating for the rights of patients and their family caregivers.

General Information

Articles of Interest

• NHPCO’s Quality Partners Initiative: The Motivation and Rationale Behind Its Development. Newsline, August 2006. (PDF)
• What Do We Mean By Quality? Newsline, July 2006. (PDF)
• Hospice Philosophy and Ethical Statements from NHPCO:
  • NHPCO’s Ethical Principles: These ethical principles should be upheld by all hospice and palliative care providers.
  • Preamble to Standards of Practice: The following statement was originally published in the 2000 edition of NHPCO’s Hospice Standards of Practice.
  • Hospice Philosophy Statement: Originally published in NHPCO’s Hospice Standards of Practice (2000).
  • Position Statements and Commentaries from NHPCO.

Helpful Organizations

• Caring Connections
• American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Resources to Meet Requirements of NHPCO’s Quality Partners Program
  • AAHPM Position Statements

Hospice Operations Support

• The Discontinuation of Hospice Care: Ethical Principles for Policy and Practice (2004)
  • In today’s hospice environment, the decision of whether to continue or discontinue care to a hospice patient inevitably seems to involve financial concerns.  The Discontinuation of Hospice Care is a necessary discussion of the ethical principles surrounding the discontinuation of care for any end-of-life care professional in the contemporary hospice practice.
• HPNA Position Statements  
• HPNA Code of Ethics

Help Desk

If after reviewing the online resources you need additional assistance, contact quality@nhpco.org or the Quality Team at 703-837-1500.