Easing Suffering – Advance Pediatric Palliative Care Training

Advanced Concepts in Easing Suffering and Promoting Healing for Pediatric Patients

This 4.5 CE hour self-paced online course focuses on some of the most difficult emotional and spiritual aspects of caring for young patients at the end of life. It covers topics such as transference and countertransference, trauma-informed care, types of grief, caring for diverse families, and empowering patients and families in end-of-life decision making.

Why Take This Course?

The worsening serious illness or approaching death of a child, teen, or young adult can bring deep existential and spiritual distress that may extend to the entire family, as well as the healthcare team. Addressing this type of suffering takes specialized awareness, knowledge, and support.  

This course delivers the skills and strategies needed to address the personal impact that the loss of young patients has on hospice and palliative care practitioners, the challenges and conflicts that can arise when family members process grief in different ways, and how to support families in decision making as a child’s illness worsens.

This course can be taken on its own or as part of these comprehensive programs:

• Certificate in Clinical Pediatric Palliative Care – 66 CEs
• Multidisciplinary Certificate in Pediatric Palliative Care – 37.5 CEs

 Who Should Take This Course?

This course is ideal for RNs, NPs, APRNs, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, chaplains and others on hospice, palliative care, or home health teams who work with pediatric patients and families and/or want to specialize in pediatric palliative care. It builds on concepts explored in the Basic Concepts in Easing Suffering and Promoting Healing for Pediatric Patients and the Foundational Concepts in Easing Suffering and Promoting Healing for Pediatric Patients courses.

Course Information

Fast Facts

Begins:	Immediately upon registration
Is taught:	Completely online and is available 24/7
Offers:	4.5 Continuing Education Hours
Costs:	$69
Requires:	Computing skills sufficient to complete graduate work, access to a computer with an Internet connection
Is ideal for:	Nurse Practitioners, APRNS, RNs, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, chaplains, child life specialists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and other members of the hospice, palliative care or home team who have some experience working with seriously ill pediatric patients and their families and/or want to specialize in pediatric palliative care
Cancellation Policy:	There are no refunds on our self-paced courses

Course Description

This course comprises four modules that focus on strategies for reducing the existential and spiritual suffering of young patients with life-limiting illness and their families, while supporting the well-being and resiliency of hospice and palliative care professionals.

Modules and topics include:

Working Within the Context of Ongoing Suffering (Transference and Countertransference)

This module prepares learners to:

• Employ self-evaluation and self-awareness regarding the effects of personal loss to ensure appropriate and effective support to those who are suffering
• Evaluate the impact of personal experiences with children at end of life and recognize the need for appropriate support
• Demonstrate an understanding of key principles of providing trauma-informed care to pediatric patients and families and apply interventions that help to minimize the effects of trauma without causing additional trauma

Reconciling Differences of Opinion within Families and the Impact on Grief

This module equips learners to:

• Differentiate between instrumental grief and intuitive grief
• Describe how each type of grief affects families
• Assess for the presence of family conflicts over grieving styles
• Create a plan that honors individual grieving styles while promoting healing in relationships

Caring for Those With Unique Needs

By the end of this module, learners will be able to:

• Describe the unique needs of parents in diverse family types
• Complete a family assessment to determine whether family members have unique needs that require additional support
• Create a plan of care that integrates appropriate support to meet identified needs

Supporting Patient and Family Empowerment

This module explores how to:

• Employ an approach to care that empowers the patient and family as active participants on the care team
• Assess patient and family perceptions and needs regarding quality of life versus quantity of life
• Evaluate patient and family perceptions regarding what may come next
• Describe types of decision-making support that may be needed as illness worsens

STRATEGIC PARTNERS

The Institute’s Pediatric Palliative Care curriculum was developed by expert clinicians in pediatric palliative care from leading children’s hospitals and hospice programs, with support from:

• Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition/Coalition for Compassionate Care of California
• Providence TrinityCare Hospice and Trinity KidsCare

COURSE AUTHOR

Susan Montgomery, RN, BSN, MA, a medical writer whose clinical career as a registered nurse included caring for children and adults in both critical care and hospice. She is the former Director of Interdisciplinary Practice at Suncoast Hospice.

COURSE REVIEWERS

Rev. Kathleen Ennis-Durstine, MDiv, BCC, Senior Chaplain/Manager, Children’s National Health System, and faculty member of the Pediatric Chaplains Institute

Rev. Mark Bartel, MDiv, BCC, Chaplain Manager, Spiritual Care, Arnold Palmer Medical Center, Orlando Health, and faculty member of the Pediatric Chaplains Institute

Course Information