PC 500 - Foundations of Palliative Care

COURSE INFORMATION

This online CE course provides students with perspectives from a physician with extensive experience in palliative care. Students will learn from the author about pain, medications, psychosocial and spiritual support, communication, and the general palliative care system, as well as other aspects of end-of-life care. The course begins with an explanation of the history of palliative and end-of-life care, in comparison with the field in modern times. A shift to life expectancy and prognosis occurs, leading into in-depth discussions regarding symptom management which medications and non-medication interventions are best suited for individual diseases and symptoms (pain and non-pain related) occur throughout the course.

The course also discusses hydration, nutrition, and antibiotics in end-of-life care, and pros and cons for each. Psychosocial and spiritual aspects of care are equally important as the medical side, which is also presented in the course. Then, the course outlines the much-needed changes that need to occur in the palliative and hospice field. Although it is difficult to change the system as a whole, the book author discusses “a better understanding of the system is the first step in being able to work and improve that system” (p. 203). Toward the end of the course, students will learn about burnout, compassion fatigue, and the many stressors which arise while working in this field. Lastly, students will learn about “the last 48 hours” (p. 239), and what to look for when someone is in the active dying stage. Students will be able to obtain a broad range of valuable knowledge to help work with patients and families during a vulnerable and stressful phase of life.

Course Code: PC 500. Contact hours of education = 40.

Instructor/Course Author: Amanda Atkinson, LMSW
Link to Resume: Access here

TEXTBOOK: There is one (1) required textbook for this course.

Palliative Care Perspectives, 2^nd Edition. By: James L. Hallenbeck, Oxford University Press, 1/21/2022

ISBN-10: 0197542913
ISBN-13: 978-0197542910

Link to Purchase on Amazon.com: click here

TIME FRAME: You are allotted two years from the date of enrollment, to complete all of the four (4) courses in the Grief Support Group Certified Specialist continuing education program. There are no set time-frames, other than the two year allotted time. If you do not complete the courses within the two-year time-frame, you will be removed from the course and an “incomplete” will be recorded for you in our records. Also, if you would like to complete the courses after this two-year expiration time, you would need to register and pay the course tuition fee again.

GRADING: You must achieve a passing score of at least 70% to complete this course and receive the 35 hours of awarded continuing education credit. There are no letter grades assigned. You will receive notice of your total % score. Those who score below the minimum of 70% will be contacted by the American Academy of Grief Counseling and options for completing additional course work to achieve a passing score, will be presented.

BOARD APPROVALS: The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is an Approved Provider for Continuing Education by the South Carolina Professional Counselors, Marriage & Family Therapists and Psycho-Educational Specialists licensing board, Provider # 4637.

AIHCP is an approved provider of continuing education by the American Institute of Health Care Professionals (The Provider) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nurses, Provider number # CEP 15595 for 35 Contact Hours. Access information

This course, which is approved by the Florida State Board Of Nursing (CE Provider # 50-11975) also has the following Board of Nursing Approvals, for 35 contact hours of CE

The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Arkansas Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the Georgia Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the South Carolina Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Professional Registered Nurses. CE Provider # 50-11975.
The American Institute of Health Care Professionals Inc: is a Rule Approved Provider of Continuing Education by the New Mexico Board of Nursing. CE Provider # 50-11975.

Course Refund & AIHCP Policies: access here

ONLINE CLASSROOM RESOURCES AND TOOLS

* Examination Access: there is link to take you right to the online examination program where you can print out your examination and work with it. All examinations are formatted as “open book” tests. When you are ready, you can access the exam program at anytime and click in your responses to the questions. Full information is provided in the online classrooms.

* Student Resource Center: there is a link for access to a web page “Student Resource Center.” The Resource Center provides for easy access to all of our policies/procedures and additional information regarding applying for certification. We also have many links to many outside reference sites, such as online libraries that you may freely access.

* Online Evaluation: there is a link in the classroom where you may access the course evaluation. All students completing a course, must, without exception, complete the course evaluation.

* Faculty Access Information: you will have access to your instructor’s online resume/biography, as well as your instructor’s specific contact information.

* Additional Learning Materials: some faculty have prepared additional “readings” and /or brief lecture notes to enhance your experience. All of these are available in the online classrooms.

COURSE OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

Discuss illness and death as part of the human experience.
Identify the top five causes of death in the United States.
Define palliative care vs. hospice care.
Discuss the shift of medicine from healing to cure and eliminating disease.
Discuss how hospice and palliative care has changed with the introduction of the Medicare Hospice benefit in 1983.
Explain the importance of advance directives and naming a decision maker in the event of a patient who is unable to make their own decisions or verbalize their wishes.
Discuss prediction of death related to specific diseases, in addition to consideration of other factors which influence disease progression.
Define “sine-wave dying trajectory” to assist in predicting when death may occur.
Discuss guidelines for hospice criteria related to life expectancy, and specific requirements for each disease.
Analyze “The Fantasy Death” and different variations of this “fantasy” related to how an individual wants their death to occur.
Define a “symptom” related to the disease process.
Identify physical, psychological, and spiritual symptom management.
Discuss the classifications of pain: acute and chronic.
Discuss the types of pain: nociceptive (tissue) and neuropathic (nerve) pain.
Evaluate pain using the mnemonic: NOPQRST.
Identify nonpharmacologic approaches to pain management.
Analyze medication management for different types of pain: Analgesics, Steroids, Opioids.
Discuss drug dosages appropriate for different types of pain and symptoms.
Identify causes and treatments for nausea and vomiting.
Discuss ways to alleviate constipation for patients.
Analyze why bowel obstruction is very difficult to palliate.
Identify the relationship between good mouth care and quality of life.
Determine possible treatments for dyspnea.
Discuss why artificial hydration and nutrition at the end of life may be a difficult decision to make.
Discuss depression, anxiety, and grief for both patients and their families.
Evaluate the author’s statement that altered states of consciousness at the end of life are “not all bad.”
Identify ways to incorporate spiritual support into end-of-life and palliative care.
Discuss the importance of identifying your own communication style in order to effectively communicate with patients and families.
Reflect on methods of sharing bad news in a caring and empathetic manner.
Utilize the GOOD acronym to incorporate patient/family preferences into decision making.
Identify the importance of palliative care trainees receiving proper formal education on how to conduct family meetings.
Discuss pronouncing the death of a patient and processing your own grief as a clinician.
Appreciate, as the author says, “the importance of systemic change as a means of promoting healing.”
Discuss the role of politics which increases as a clinician has more administrative responsibility.
Determine how to complete a successful palliative care consult to provide the best care for the patient, which also respects their wishes.
Identify burnout as an occupational hazard in healthcare.
Discuss the three domains of burnout from Christine Maslach.
Identify the differences between burnout and compassion fatigue.
Identify symptoms of active dying.
Discuss ways to be helpful to patients and families during the active dying phase.

COURSE CONTENT:

A brief abstract of content:

History of chronic illness, death, and dying in modern times.
Early history of hospice care and history of palliative care in the United States.
The future of hospice and palliative care.
Prognostication of health and future death.
The dying trajectory and deaths from certain diseases.
Hospice eligibility determined by terminal diagnosis.
Overview of symptom management – physical, psychic, spiritual, etc.
Pain management, classifications of pain, and types of pain.
Evaluation of pain to determine plan for management/treatment.
Pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic approaches to pain management.
Medication classes: Analgesics, steroids, opioids.
Drug dosing calculations.
Non-pain symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, bowel obstruction, mouth care, dyspnea, cachexia, anorexia, and asthenia.
Decisions regarding hydration and nutrition.
Use of antibiotics for quality and quantity of life.
Psychosocial and spiritual concerns related to depression, anxiety, grief, anticipatory grief, bereavement.
Altered states of consciousness at the end of life, and evaluation/treatment of such states.
Importance of spiritual support at the end of life, and ensuring it is considered alongside medical needs.
Communication as a vital part of good palliative care.
Intercultural communication and consideration of cultural context in any form of communication.
Low-context versus high-context communication.
The role of empathy in communication and connection.
Sharing bad news with patients and families.
Family meetings as an important part of palliative care consultations and continued palliative care.
Discussing a hastened death with patients and families.
Pronouncing the death of a patient.
Follow-up care after death.
Systemic change of the hospice and palliative care movement.
The role of politics in all clinical care.
Changing the system from within, one step and patient at a time.
Palliative care consults in acute care, outpatient clinics, home care, and nursing homes.
Burnout as a response to chronic stress.
Maslach’s three domains of burnout.
Compassion fatigue and how it differs from burnout.
Predicting active dying while considering symptoms, treatment, and the unique needs of each patient.