Key concepts covered include:

By the end of the module, you should be able to:

• Describe accurately a holistic palliative care assessment to others in your team.
• Describe accurately how palliative care fits into the care of a patient with a life limiting illness.
• Carry out a holistic assessment with a patient and their family or carers relevant to your role.
• Share learning with your team on basics of how to deliver palliative care.
• Acknowledge and identify barriers to effective communication.
• Identify ways to overcome such barriers.
• List 6 points to consider to help effective communication.
• Describe to a new colleague why people may use ‘denial’ and ‘collusion’ as communication strategies and suggest ways to manage such a situation.
• Outline your framework for effective team working
• For a given patient, identify who can be part of a team delivering palliative care (including family).
• Share your knowledge about community care and team working with a new colleague.
• Correctly diagnose confusion/delirium and identify likely possible causes.
• Outline an appropriate a management plan for such a patient.
• Share your knowledge with a new team member by leading an education session.
• Correctly identify causes and mechanisms for constipation and bowel obstruction in palliative care patients.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for such patients.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Identify the key issues in end of life care.
• Describe some of the barriers to effective end of life care.
• Describe a model of good end of life care to others.
• Outline the key ethical principles.
• Describe a decision making framework to help structure a response to an ethical dilemma.
• Describe the care of a patient and their family using an ethical framework.
• Share your knowledge of ethical frameworks with others in your team.
• Correctly identify fatigue, anorexia and cachexia in patients needing palliative care support.
• Appropriately describe hydration and nutrition issues for patients and their families needing palliative care support.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for a patients and their family experiencing these symptoms and issues.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Correctly list the features of a normal and of a complicated grief reaction.
• Describe to a new colleague how to support anticipatory grieving.
• Appropriately demonstrate by discussing a case how you identify and potentially manage risk factors for complex grief.
• Share your knowledge about grief and bereavement with the rest of your team.
• Describe to a colleague the effects of cancer on a patient.
• Describe the treatments available for cancer and what is available in your locality.
• Describe to a new colleague how palliative care can be part of cancer care.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of your team.
• Describe to a colleague the effects of serious life limiting illnesses other than cancer.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for the issues faced by a patient and their family.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Correctly recognise and list the different opioids.
• Correctly describe the supply, safe storage and prescribing requirements for opioid analgesics.
• Appropriately prescribe and review opioid analgesics.
• Share your knowledge with other health care professionals.
• Correctly identify problems around mouth care and skin care, including wound care and lymphoedema.
• Describe an appropriate management plan for a patient with these problems.
• Identify available local resources and team members who can help support patients with these problems.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Outline the needs of a child with an incurable condition.
• Describe to a colleague your management plan for the palliative care needs of a child.
• Share your knowledge with others.
• Identify the important elements for effective pain management.
• Describe the challenges to providing good pain assessment and ongoing management.
• Undertake a holistic pain assessment and describe initial management.
• Teach others the important elements of pain management that they need for their role.
• Correctly describe the usual features of an emergency situation in palliative care.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for someone with one of these situations.
• Share your knowledge with new team members by leading an education session.
• Describe the usual psychosocial issues that patients who need palliative care face.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for a patient with psychosocial needs.
• Appropriately identify who is able to help support the patient with psychosocial needs.
• Share your knowledge with others.
• Correctly identify respiratory symptoms and their cause in a patient requiring palliative care support.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for the symptoms with and without medication.
• Identify people who are able to support patients with respiratory symptoms.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Appropriately identify spiritual issues in a patient needing palliative care.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for spiritual issues in a patient needing palliative care.
• Describe how your practice has changed or developed as a result of engaging with this module.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Correctly identify what is the likely cause of nausea and vomiting in patients needing palliative care.
• Outline an appropriate management plan for a patient experiencing these symptoms.
• Share your knowledge with the rest of the team.
• Understand the various aspects of a holistic assessment and be able to apply a holistic assessment to your own patients.
• Use the cases to inform your own practice.
• Use the cases to share knowledge, understanding and to teach others.