Advanced Pediatric Palliative Care Pain and Symptom Management

Advanced Pediatric Pain and Symptom Assessment and Management

This 8.5 CE hour, self-paced online course delivers robust clinical skills aimed at effectively assessing and managing physical pain and understanding psychosocial factors that can impact physical suffering in seriously ill or terminally ill infants, children, teens and young adults.

Why Take This Course?

Many of the principles that apply to complex pain and symptom management in adults also apply to pediatric patients, but there are important differences that clinicians must be aware of when assessing and treating infants, children, teens, or young adults with serious or life-limiting illness.

This in-depth course explores factors such as chronological age, developmental stage, weight, diagnosis, and comorbidities that must be considered when selecting appropriate pain-management medications and adjusting pediatric dosing, as well as the emotional, social, and spiritual factors that are influenced by the patient’s age and family belief systems.

This course can be taken on its own or as part of the Certificate in Clinical Pediatric Palliative Care – 66 CEs

 Who Should Take This Course?

This course is ideal RNs, NPs, APRNS, physicians, physician assistants, and other clinicians working in hospice, palliative care, or home health who want to build comfort and competence in caring for pediatric patients with serious illness and their families. It builds on concepts explored in the Basic Pediatric Pain and Symptom Assessment and Management and the Foundational Pediatric Pain and Symptom Assessment and Management courses.

Course Information

Fast Facts

Begins:	Immediately upon registration
Is taught:	Completely online and is available 24/7
Offers:	8.5 Continuing Education Hours
Costs:	$125
Requires:	Computing skills sufficient to complete graduate work, access to a computer with an Internet connection
Is ideal for:	Nurse Practitioners, APRNS, RNs, PAs, physicians, and other clinicians on hospice, palliative care, or home health 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 seven modules covering topics related to managing complex pain in infants, children, teens, and young adults, including psychosocial and spiritual distress that can exacerbate pain, and the use of proportionate palliative sedation to address certain refractory symptoms.

Modules include:

Advanced Pain Management Principles

This module equips learners to:

• Understand pediatric dosing guidelines to manage complex pain
• Apply principles of “titrating to comfort” to manage difficult symptoms
• Summarize the role of medical marijuana in pediatric symptom management
• Address patient and family concerns regarding opioid use
• Integrate considerations about medication into the care plan

Caring for the Child who Is Medically Complex

This module explores:

• The critical role of parents in the care of pediatric patients
• Common issues medically complex patients experience
• Essential information that professionals need to elicit from parents to guide them in the care of the child
• Common life-limiting conditions that occur in infants
• How care must be adapted to meet infants’ unique needs

Caring for an Infant

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

• Apply a comprehensive approach when assessing an infant
• Illustrate indicators of pain in infants
• Assess for issues that may be contributing to discomfort
• Summarize key principles related to infant pain and symptom management
• Apply clinical guidelines to ensure optimal care

Assessing and Treating Pain and Other Symptoms in Neurologically Complex Patients

This module prepares learners to:

• Assess for unique factors related to the neurologically complex pediatric patient and integrate them into a plan of care
• Summarize key principles of pain and symptom assessment in the nonverbal pediatric patient
• Use applicable clinical guidelines to treat pain and symptoms in neurologically complex patients, and more

Recognizing and Responding to Psychosocial and Spiritual Distress That Exacerbates Physical Symptoms

This module provides guidance on:

• Recognizing how age-related psychosocial and spiritual factors may impact physical symptoms
• Integrating those factors into the plan of care
• Using an interdisciplinary assessment to understand the impact of psychosocial and spiritual factors on physical symptoms in support of a differential diagnosis
• Engaging the interdisciplinary team to encourage practice of a collaborative approach for responding to psychosocial and spiritual distress

Trauma-Informed Pain and Symptom Management

By the end of this module, learners will:

• Understand key principles of providing trauma-informed care to pediatric patients and families
• Recognize how a history of trauma may impact reporting and other patient and family dynamics
• Employ an interdisciplinary model to assess for a history of various types of traumatic experiences within the family unit
• Apply interventions that help to minimize the effects of trauma without causing additional trauma

Palliative Sedation

This module focuses on:

• Recognizing various types of refractory symptoms that pediatric patients experience
• Understanding of key principles of providing proportionate sedation for refractory symptoms
• Perceiving ethical issues related to the use of proportionate palliative sedation in the pediatric population
• Employing an interdisciplinary approach to address related psychosocial and spiritual issues for the patient and family, and the care team

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 AUTHORS

Kimberly Bower, MD, FAAHPM, HMDC, former Chief of Palliative Medicine at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego and current Medical Director of Blue Shield of California Promise Plan

Susan Montgomery, RN, BSN, MA, a registered nurse for more than 35 years, caring for infants and children in the neonatal ICU, the pediatric ICU, and in pediatric hospice

Course Information