Certification course to be held May 21 and 22, 2016.
San Diego, CA – March 31, 2016 csupalliativecare.org/csusm. The California State University Shiley Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos is pleased to announce it is partnering with the San Diego Chapter of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association to offer a preparatory course for nurses who seek to sit for the Hospice and Palliative Certification Center’s Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse exam in 2016. The certification course is being conducted in a classroom setting at the Sharp Spectrum Administrative Offices Auditorium on May 21 and 22, 2016, the course packs intensive training into two days, to assist professionals in successfully achieving this prestigious credential in palliative care.
What is Palliative Care?
“Palliative care” is care for those with a serious or chronic illness that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Palliative care is appropriate for anyone, from the time that a serious illness is diagnosed onward through the course of the illness. Palliative care is delivered by an interdisciplinary team of professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, pharmacists and other disciplines. Together they address the physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families.
HPNA Credential Denotes Healthcare Quality
As stated on the Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center’s web site, “Hospice and palliative nursing practice is the provision of nursing care for the patient and family, with emphasis on their physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs when experiencing a life-limiting illness and through bereavement. This is accomplished in collaboration with an interdisciplinary team in a setting which provides pain and symptom management, family support and 24-hour nursing availability.”
As health care quality oversight organizations like the Joint Commission, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, and others look for health care organizations to deliver palliative care using professionals with recognized certifications, nurses working in palliative care recognizing the value of taking the Hospice and Palliative Certification Center’s Certified Hospice and Palliative Nurse exam. The two-day intensive program is specifically designed for registered nurses working in hospice or palliative care who wish to gain this recognized certification for excellence in the work they are performing for their patients and families.
Qualified Health Professionals are In Demand
There is a growing demand for practitioners who are skilled in the discipline of palliative care. Although 81% of the nation’s hospitals offer palliative care services, the availability of staff trained in palliative care does not meet the demand of growing numbers of patients with chronic or serious illness.
Sharon Hamill, Ph.D., Faculty Director of the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos, underscored this need: “According to data provided by the California Health Care Foundation, San Diego County is currently only able to provide palliative care to 29% of those hospital inpatients who need it, and to only 19% of non-hospitalized patients in need of palliative care. The CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care is working tirelessly to change that.”
Weekend Intensive Course is Highly Successful
Caroline Etland, PhD, RN, AOCN, ACHPN, Director of Education, Research & Professional Practice for Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center, who has been instrumental in conducting this course in San Diego, pointed out the effectiveness of the intensive training approach: “Course participants have an opportunity for interactive dialogue that strengthens practice, as well as prepares them for the certification exam. Most of the course participants have gone on to successfully pass the CHPN exam. In the process, new colleagues and resources are identified for future use.”
About the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos
Cal State University San Marcos is where the idea behind the CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care was born. Under the leadership of CSUSM President, Karen Haynes, the Institute was launched in September of 2012. As the flagship Campus Partner, CSUSM is working to support the mission of the Institute by integrating the topic of palliative care into the daily curriculum as well as expanding awareness of the importance of palliative care to campus staff, faculty, and community members throughout Southern California. The CSU Shiley Institute for Palliative Care, dedicated to increasing access to and awareness of palliative care by educating current and future professionals, offers palliative care-focused professional development and continuing education courses that are enhancing the skills of current and future healthcare professionals across the country and around the world.
About the San Diego Chapter of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association
The San Diego Chapter of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (SDHPNA) is dedicated to promoting hospice and palliative nursing through education, professional development, and creating partnerships with the communities it serves. The chapter conducts quarterly meetings featuring speakers who present on topics pertinent to nurses’ palliative care practice. HPNA is open to any health care provider who is working in the field of palliative care or end of life care, and to any professional who wishes to learn more about it, including nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses’ aides, social workers, and chaplains.
