Core Concepts in Palliative Care — Nurses
Nurses play a pivotal role in palliative care, from managing pain and attending to suffering, to communicating with patients and families, to coordinating care and leading other members of the palliative care team.
Core Concepts in Palliative Care — Nurses is a comprehensive, self-paced course that provides a deep understanding of palliative care and delivers the specific skills and strategies critical for nurses in any healthcare setting.
Originally created in partnership with one of the largest healthcare organizations in the United States, this course has been expanded and enhanced with additional content applicable across any health system. It’s perfect for individuals or teams interested in improving care for their most vulnerable patients and families.
Core Concepts in Palliative Care — Nurses offers 17 continuing education credits that will enhance your practice and your effectiveness in caring for seriously ill patients and families. This course lays out trajectories for the most common types of life-limiting disease, and explores effective interventions and pain management tools, as well as the role of nurses as leaders and advocates.
This course is part of the Core Concepts in Palliative Care series. Learn more. |
What You’ll Learn
- The role of the palliative care nurse
- Pain assessment and management
- Opioids for pain management
- Opioids: clinical considerations and side effects
- Methadone
- Palliative care and cardiology
- Pulmonary disease and associated symptoms
- Liver disease and associated symptoms
- End-stage renal disease and associated symptoms
- Gastrointestinal symptoms in palliative care
- Neurodegenerative diseases: ALS, Parkinson’s disease, dementia
- Cancer: overview and oncological emergencies
- Psychiatric disorders and palliative care
- Frailty and palliative care
- The role of palliative care nurses as leaders and advocates
What You’ll Earn
- Identify the role and the required expertise of the specialty palliative care nurse
- Describe how palliative care nurses use their understanding of disease trajectories to develop a plan of care
- Articulate the nurse’s role in pain management
- Identify long and short-acting opioids, their role in pain management, common side effects, and treatment considerations
- Understand methadone’s use, its risk factors, and how to mitigate risks
- Examine common trajectories of serious illnesses including heart failure, pulmonary disease, liver disease, end-stage renal disease, gastrointestinal disease, neurological diseases, and frailty
- Apply knowledge of disease trajectories by articulating their symptoms, using assessment tools, recommending treatments, and understanding hospice criteria
- Assess psychological side effects of serious illness, and use interventions to help the seriously and terminally ill
- Differentiate between normal responses to illness and responses that indicate maladaptive coping
- Identify non-verbal pain assessment tools used to assess pain in those with cognitive impairment
- Discuss how the trajectory of cancer differs from other chronic or terminal illnesses
- Identify the most common oncologic emergencies
- Know and employ characteristics of a leader, incorporating these concepts into daily practice
Completion and Refunds
In order to complete this course and obtain a certificate, you must view the course in its entirety, correctly answer all case studies and quiz/test questions (as appropriate) and complete the evaluation. You will have 90 days to access this course from the date of purchase. No refunds are given for self-paced courses.