Competence Statements

Undergraduate Competencies And Recommendations for Educating Nursing Students (CARES, 2nd. ed.)

Entry-level professional nurses should achieve the following by the end of their formal nursing education:

  1. Advocate for and promote the integration of palliative care for patients with serious illness or injury and their families across the disease trajectory as essential to quality care.
  2. Consider the complex and evolving socio-economic factors that influence equitable palliative care delivery within health care systems.
  3. Reflect on one's ethical, cultural, and spiritual values and their influence on relationships in palliative care.
  4. Demonstrate respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion as essential for the delivery of culturally sensitive, quality palliative care.
  5. Communicate effectively, respectfully, and compassionately with patients, families, interprofessional team members, and the public about palliative care.
  6. Collaborate effectively within the interprofessional team to coordinate the delivery of high-quality palliative care across healthcare settings.
  7. Demonstrate respect for person-centered care by aligning the plan of care with patient and family values, beliefs, preferences, and goals of care.
  8. Apply ethical principles, social justice, and moral courage in the care of patients with serious illness, their families, and communities.
  9. Comply with state and federal laws and institutional policies relevant to the care of patients with serious illness and their families.
  10. Utilize evidence-based tools to perform a holistic health assessment of pain and other symptoms, considering physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.
  11. Synthesize assessment data to develop and implement plans of care that address physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs, utilizing holistic, evidence-based approaches.
  12. Conduct ongoing reassessment and evaluation of patient outcomes, modifying the plan of care as needed to be consistent with goals of care.
  13. Provide culturally sensitive care that is responsive to rapidly changing physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs during the dying process and after death.
  14. Support patients, families, and team members to cope with suffering, grief, loss, and bereavement.
  15. Implement self-care behaviors to cope with the experience of caring for seriously ill and dying patients and their families.

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