Module Objectives

Module 1: Introduction to Palliative Care Nursing

• Apply philosophy and principles of primary palliative care into everyday practice.
• Integrate the NCP Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care into care settings.
• Compare and contrast hospice and palliative care services.
• Discuss the multiple roles of the advanced practice nurse (APN) in providing or advocating for quality palliative care for patients with serious illness(es) and their families.
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Module 2: Communication in Palliative Care

• Apply communication skills essential for the role of the advanced practice registered nurse in communication with the patient, family, interdisciplinary team across the serious illness trajectory and at end of life.
• Integrate advanced communication skills into primary palliative care clinical practice.
• Facilitate advance care planning conversations with patients and families across the serious illness trajectory.
• Prepare for and lead family meetings centered on serious illness conversations while honoring and respecting unique cultural norms.
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Module 3: Pain Management in Palliative Care

• Integrate critical components of an advanced pain assessment: history, physical examination,
  and diagnostic testing, into clinical practice.
• Make accurate pain diagnoses based on etiology and characteristics that guide management
  strategies.
• Prescribe safe and effective pharmacological therapies for pain.
• Calculate opioid equianalgesic route conversions for the commonly used opioids.
• Make recommendations for nonpharmacological and integrative pain therapies as appropriate.
• Discuss opioid risk mitigation and safe pain management practices.
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Module 4: Symptom Management in Palliative Care

• Apply the biopsychosocial/spiritual model of pain assessment and management to selected common symptoms associated with serious illness.
• Prescribe pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for management of selected common symptoms in serious illness.
• Refer patients with complex symptoms to specialty palliative care and/or appropriate interdisciplinary team members when appropriate.
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Module 5: Final Hours

• Discuss the role of the APRN in preparing the patient and family for death.
• Integrate the essential elements of compassionate and effective communication into clinical practice during end-of-life care.
• Incorporate patient and family cultural values and spiritual practices and beliefs into quality end-of-life care.
• Discuss benefits and burdens of selected ethical end-of-life issues.
• Assess and manage pain and symptoms common at end of life (EOL).
• Support patients and families experiencing loss and grief.
• Refer persons demonstrating behaviors of complicated bereavement for appropriate psychosocial and spiritual care. 
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Module 6: APN Leadership in Serious Illness

• Identify G-CARES competencies in primary palliative care appropriate to participant’s graduate-level scope of practice.
• Apply the three essential elements of advanced practice nursing leadership in improving palliative care for all patients with serious illness across the lifespan and in all settings.
• Integrate transformational leadership concepts into primary palliative care APN practice in various domains of care.
• Analyze patient, family, community and/or system challenges and opportunities as an APN leader in serious illness care.
• Discuss the importance of resiliency in care of patients with serious illness and their families.
• Integrate strategies which promote self-care and healthy work environments into practice setting.
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