FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Welcome to the FAQs section for the Palliative Care Specialist Certification program. This area is provided to you as a source of information that may be more clarified, related to questions you may have in regards to our certification program. Information regarding recertification, as well as information about our online continuing education courses, is also provided. We highly recommend that you first thoroughly review all of the information on our website, under the main page for Palliative Care Certification. Access main page.
If after reviewing all of the provided information and this FAQs section, any other questions may be addressed by completing our request for information form online here. Thank you for your interest in our Palliative Care Specialist certification and education program.
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What is Certification?
Answer: Certification is a voluntary process provided by via an organization that through its qualified advisory boards develops comprehensive and quality standards for the practice of a type of specialty. The developed standards address high quality requirements for the practice of a certain specialty. The defined standards outline educational and/or practice requirements, any required prerequisites, and the need to adhere to a defined code of ethics for the practice specialty. Certification is different than any type of licensing. Certification is one means by which professionals may be publicly recognized as achieving a high level of education, knowledge base and practice skills for a certain healthcare related specialty. Certification also assists employer organizations and clients in their assessment of appropriate qualifications for candidates seeking positions in organizations and/or involved in private practices. It is commonly held that certification through an organization is fast becoming a “gold standard” for specialty practices. Certification testifies and provides a verification of defined educational requirements, adherence to a solid code of ethics, and in many instances prerequisites of practice experience for the practice in a variety of fields.
What Are the Criteria/standards I Will Need to Meet to Achieve Certification?
Answer: The educational criteria and standards are well and clearly defined within our website. Please access our main page to preview these requirements. Access here.
May I Apply for and Be Conferred Certification if I Have Been Practicing in the Area of Palliative Care Practice With Out The Need to Meet the Educational Requirements?
Answer: No. The Board that oversees the development and approval of defined criteria and standards for certification will not consider any practice experience as meeting requirements in full. This decision was made as those who are already in a health care practices have varied and different experiences related to this specialty and there is no insured uniformity that all who have practiced this specialty have the same knowledge base and skills attainment. The evaluation of one’s past practice experiences in health care practices is highly variable and subjective. As such, the Board has developed objective criteria/standards for the conferral of certification. For these reasons, practice experience without the attainment of education will not be considered as fulfilling criteria and standards for our certification. AIHCP Education program: access link.
Over the Years, I Have Completed Many Seminars and Continuing Education Courses Related to Palliative Care. Will These Apply Toward the Education Requirements for Certification?
Answer: Please send in any transcript for review to determine if they can be utilized and an AIHCP course waived. You can contact us here.
What is the Major Practice Focus of a Certified Palliative Care Specialist?
Answer: Palliative care is a specialized holistic health care approach that focuses on preventing and alleviating suffering from serious illness. Its primary goal is to make the patient’s family less stressful as well as the client being cared for. With the ongoing development of medical and health care technology and the aging of the largest generation in history (the baby boomers), more and more patients need highly skilled specialists in this field.
Palliative care specialists work in close partnerships with the patient’s primary medical team and health care team adding an additional layer of support. Their work may be hands-on and interdisciplinary, requiring top notch communication skills as well as clinical expertise.
One of the specialist’s main practice areas is complex pain and symptom management in distressing conditions such as severe illness, cancer, heart failure or neurological disorders. This requires highly developed knowledge of both pharmacology and pathophysiology. Pain reduced, the pain specialist, allows a patient to bear medical treatment more easily and helps them into a full-time job of life.
Serious illness affects not only patients themselves but their families emotionally and spiritually as well. Palliative care professionals are trained to engage in uncomfortable discussions about these: prognosis; treatment objectives and hopes for how long they will live. These professionals offer much-needed emergency support and spiritual counseling, making sure that what decisions a person makes there does accord with his own personal beliefs and worth.
When your family faces a serious illness, the healthcare system can be impossible to negotiate and navigate. Palliative care professionals provide complete comprehensive care for this demanding time of multiple health challenges. Assuring that everyone involved has the care plan in hand is one of the most effective ways to prevent frequent readmissions to a hospital, not to mention stabilizing patients’ recoveries once they return home.
Their roles are multi-dimensional and may be varied depending on the overall needs and goals of the health care team they are working with, as well as the patient’s and families’ individual needs. Their philosophy of care by education is holistic and focuses on the physical, the mind, the social, and the spiritual dimensions of the client. They are also very focused on the needs of the client’s family. The family is seen as their client as well in the overall care model.
Becoming a palliative care professional nurse, counselor or allied healthcare professional in this much needed and exciting specialty practice both improve and increase your range of healthcare service. When you obtain a specialist certification in this specialized practice, it is a living commitment to the highest quality and most comprehensive standards of practice. For more information, see Role of the Palliative Care Specialist: access here.
Where Do Certified Palliative Care Specialist Practice?
Answer: Certified Palliative Care Specialists may work in a variety of health care organizational settings including, but not limited to: hospitals, hospices, home health agencies, social services agencies, skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities and other related type care facilities. They may also be contracted with facilities for their services or be in their own private practices working for themselves as contracted agents.
What is the Process for Achieving This Certification?
Answer: There is a two-phase process. In order to provide clear and sufficient information on the process we have developed a separate page that defines the process. You may access this information on the certification process at this link: click here.
How Can I Submit an Application?
Answer: Making application is easy. We provide an online application form and a printable application form as well. Those wishing to make application can find these forms at this link. Please note that incomplete applications will not be reviewed. All applications that are submitted must include all required documents and verification as specified for review and consideration of certification conferral. Before making any application, you must meet the defined pre-requisites for a given program and have successfully completed the full continuing education curriculum, or a curriculum from a program that AIHCP, Inc. has officially approved.
After Certification is There a Recertification Process?
Answer: Yes. The American Institute of Health Care Professionals provides a full program for recertification. Detailed information on the criteria to be recertified, after the four-year initial certification period, is provided on our website. Access here.
I Am Currently Certified by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals in Palliative Care. I Know I Am Required to Achieve Additional Education in Order to Qualify for Recertification in the Future. Do You Offer Any Continuing Education Courses That I May Take to Meet My Recertification Requirements?
Answer: Yes, we offer recertification CE courses. You can view them all by category at the following link. Access here.
Do You Have Any Testimonials From Professionals Who Have Become Certified Through Your Programs?
Answer: Yes. We have a testimonials page on our website that you may view at the following link. Access Here.