Leah Ward, MSN, MA, AGNP-C, ACHPN 
DNP Candidate 
Palliative & Geriatric Care Provider 

Leah Ward began reviewing for Doody’s Review Service in 2020, under Editorial Review Group Chair Dr. Darrell Owens. Ward has reviewed 12 books in Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing specialties. Five of her reviewed titles are featured in Doody’s Core Titles 2023, including two Essential Purchase Titles, Principles and Practice of Palliative Care and Supportive Oncology, 5th Edition, Berger (Wolters Kluwer, 2022) and Textbook of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care, 3rd Edition, Bruera (CRC Press, 2021). 

Leah D. Ward, MSN, MA, AGNP-C, ACHPN is a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) candidate at Western Connecticut State University, the secretary for Connecticut’s Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and the Jr. Vice Commander at VFW Post 296, Winsted, CT. She previously had a 20-year background in oncology, bone marrow transplant, dialysis, military, home health, and hospice nursing before using military benefits to return to school. She became an adult and geriatric nurse practitioner following two overseas deployments in support of Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. After her master’s program and completion of a certificate program at the Shiley Institute for Palliative Care, California State University, Ward was offered the opportunity by the faculty to become a book reviewer for Doody’s Review Service. She subsequently became board certified as an advanced certified hospice and palliative nurse. She currently works as a geriatric palliative care nurse practitioner in four Connecticut long term care facilities while pursuing her DNP. Her doctoral project is on the development of faith-based educational programs for clergy and their congregations to increase education as well as hospice and palliative care utilization in Connecticut, which has the lowest utilization of these services in the nation. Ward serves on the health policy committee for Connecticut Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Society, providing expert testimony and advocacy for healthcare bills that affect nurse practitioners and the public, especially those pertaining to end-of-life. She recently published the article “The Connecticut MOLST: Lessons for Policy and Practice” in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners to increase knowledge on advance care planning and policy barriers. 

Providing book reviews for Doody’s has been an honor because it provides the opportunity to comment on the value of publications for hospice and palliative care in the U.S. and to assist health sciences librarians and the public in their selections. This opportunity has also provided invaluable opportunities to review the work of pioneers in the field, to keep abreast of worldwide developments, programs, and research, and has allowed Ward the use of many new publications for her doctoral studies and even some clinical hours for reviews that pertained to her studies. Reviewing with Doody’s leaves Ward never wanting for end-of-life care publications – her collection is now larger than that of her state university’s library system! 

Ward recently reviewed Palliative Care Nursing: Caring for Suffering Patients, 2^nd Edition, Perrin et al. (Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2023). The book has extensive case studies on the holistic assessment and treatment of situations that can lead to greater suffering at the end-of-life, including historical and current perspectives from recent research.