Foundational Pediatric Palliative Care Training

Foundational Communication Skills for Pediatric Patient and Family Support

This 4 CE hour, self-paced online course gives community-based palliative care providers the tools needed for a successful home visit with a new pediatric patient and family. It explores how to ensure ongoing effective communication with pediatric patients, families, community members, and other healthcare providers, and how to help children, teens, and young adults with serious illness and their families develop goals of care.

Why Take This Course?

In pediatric palliative care, honest, respectful, and open communication is essential to supporting children, teens, and young adults (CTYA) and their families, and providing high quality, compassionate care that makes them feel heard and supported.

This course explores how to determine the right time for an initial home visit with a pediatric patient and family and who should be present; how to help care for other children who may be present; how to establish rapport with young patients and the people closest to them; how to have difficult conversations with parents; and more.

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, and chaplains and other members of the hospice, palliative care, or home health team who care for pediatric patients with serious illness and their families, and/or want to specialize in pediatric palliative care. It builds on concepts explored in Basic Communication Skills for Pediatric Patient and Family Support.

Course Information

Fast Facts

Begins:	Immediately upon registration
Is taught:	Completely online and is available 24/7
Offers:	4 Continuing Education Hours
Costs:	$59
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, social workers, chaplains, child life specialists, physical therapists, speech therapists, and other members of the hospice, palliative care or home health 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 seven modules that cover topics central to communicating with children, teens, or young adults (CTYA) and their families in the context of home-based care.

Modules and topics include:

Preparation – Setting Up the Visit

This module prepares learners to:

• Understand the elements of preparation required when getting ready to see a new pediatric patient and their family including reviewing the documentation, discussing the case with the managing team, and learning more about any conditions or diseases that are unfamiliar or rare
• Recognize the importance of knowing background information related to a new patient and their family, including past medical interactions, how stress has impacted family, how decisions are made, and more
• Apply best practices in pediatric palliative care to various case studies
• Understand the role an interpreter can have as a bridge for the family/team and as a valuable source of cultural expectations and norms
• List the components of a culturally sensitive care plan, including cultural taboos and preferences, communication style, identification of decision maker, and more

Walking in the Door

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

• Recognize the significance of initial communication with CTYA and families, as it often prepares the foundation for all interactions that follow
• Understand the importance of honest, respectful, and open communication in developing rapport with CTYA and their families
• Identify types of communication that would increase trust, maintain integrity, and inspire confidence in the clinician
• Describe the importance of trust, the impact of body language, and the significance of active listening in developing rapport
• Recognize the components of sitting with the CTYA and families and understanding their perceptions
• Understand why a clinician should be aware of their own emotions and use their past experiences and ability to cope with difficult situations to help them support the family and manage their own feelings

Communicating with the Child, Teen, or Young Adult

This module prepares learners to:

• Describe the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) recommendations for preparing for communication with adolescents and young adults, including knowing a patient’s development and verbal abilities and likes and dislikes; knowing how to establish trust, and more
• Apply best practices in pediatric palliative care to various case studies
• Recognize the therapeutic presence is an intuitive process which is caring, empathetic, and connected to the patient
• Understand the impact of a CTYA’s palliative care needs on siblings and suggested practices to recognize and communicate with siblings

Communicating with Parents/Family

This module addresses how to:

• Understand the complex role parents of CTYA have including acting as their child’s care coordinator, nurse, pharmacist, spiritual care person, home health aide, and so much more
• Explain the importance of the parent’s perspective and why building trust with parents is so essential
• Apply best practices in pediatric palliative care to various case studies
• Describe the effect of quality of life assessments as a good communication tool for the team and parents to share
• Describe how a team may have to adapt to different families and their needs
• Describe how the palliative care team can be instrumental in helping families move beyond collusion and share difficult news with children in an age appropriate way
• Access and explore resources to help parents communicate and for clinicians to improve their communication skills

Communicating with the Community

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

• Apply best practices in pediatric palliative care to various case studies
• Recognize the challenges and complexity for CTYA patients who are receiving their education and/or attending school
• Understand how a child’s death can deeply affect the school staff and classmates
• Understand the role the palliative care team may have in providing support and guidance to the school as they cope with upholding the family’s wishes as well as protecting the emotional well-being of their students and staff
• List helpful tips for working with families including restricting visitor access to the family, implementing family ‘palliative care rules’ for visitors, accepting help from others, and identifying a ‘coordinator’ to help manage offers of help and family needs

Communicating with Other Providers and Parents

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

• Understand how the palliative care team can serve as a bridge between other providers and the family
• List things that can ensure good communication between the family and physician
• Apply best practices in pediatric palliative care to various case studies
• Understand that excellent communications must happen not only with the family and the managing physicians, but with other agencies involved

Goals of Care

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

• Define goals of care conversations as ongoing conversations between the parents, healthcare providers, and often, when developmentally appropriate, the CTYA
• Recognize the goals of care can evolve as situations change along the disease trajectory
• Understand that the CTYA (as appropriate) and family should see goals of care discussions as a way to ensure that their wishes are followed as closely as possible
• Recognize the importance of advance care planning
• Describe the preferable conditions of advance care planning conversations
• List and explore some of the different tools to use when clarifying goals of care for seriously ill individuals

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

Joan “Jody” Ramer Chrastek, RN, DNP, FPCN, PACCT (Pediatric Advanced Complex Care Team) coordinator for Fairview Home Care and Hospice, Minneapolis, MN.

Course Information