COURSE OVERVIEW:

This course is designed to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide compassionate and holistic care to individuals facing life-limiting illnesses and their families. This course is essential for caregivers working in various healthcare settings, including hospitals, hospices, aged care facilities, and community health organisations, where palliative care is an integral part of patient-centred care.

In Section A, participants will explore the philosophy, principles, benefits, and scope of palliative care, emphasising the importance of providing compassionate and supportive care to individuals with life-limiting illnesses. Understanding the needs of individuals dealing with a life-limiting illness and the emotional impact of diagnosis is essential for delivering person-centred care.

Participants will also learn about cultural, religious, and spiritual differences in relation to death and dying, ensuring culturally sensitive care delivery. Additionally, the course will cover the impact of unconscious bias when providing care, the stages of grief, advance care directives, end-of-life care strategies, pain relief, comfort promotion, nutritional and hydration requirements, legal and ethical considerations, organisational policies and procedures, and self-care strategies for caregivers.

In Section B, participants will develop practical skills for recognising the holistic needs of individuals receiving palliative care, supporting them, and their families, carers, and others involved in their care. Effective communication strategies, adjusting communication techniques to meet individual needs, respecting individual values and beliefs, and creating a supportive environment for sharing information regarding changing needs and preferences will be emphasised.

Participants will also learn to interpret and follow advance care directives, comply with end-of-life decisions, monitor and report changes in the person's condition, provide pain management and comfort care, maintain dignity, and provide emotional support to families, carers, and others involved in end-of-life care.

Moreover, participants will learn to manage their emotional responses, raise ethical issues or concerns, and access bereavement care and support.

Furthermore, participants will gain practical experience in supporting, reporting, and documenting issues and needs of individuals receiving palliative care, including those receiving end-of-life care. They will also reflect on their own emotional responses to death and dying and discuss these with their supervisors to ensure effective self-care and support.

By the end of this course, participants will be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and emotional resilience necessary to deliver compassionate and dignified care to individuals and their families during their end-of-life journey, thereby promoting comfort, dignity, and quality of life in alignment with their preferences and values.

This course is designed to align with the content outlined in the Nationally Recognised Unit of Competency CHCPAL003.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand the following topics:

Section A: Knowledge

·       Philosophy, principles, benefits and scope of palliative care

·       The needs of people dealing with a life-limiting illness and the emotional impact of diagnosis

·       Cultural, religious and spiritual differences in relation to death and dying

·       Impact of unconscious bias when providing care

·       The stages of grief and personal strategies for managing reactions to grief

·       Role and purpose of advance care directives

·       End-of-life care strategies

·       Pain relief and comfort promotion

·       Process to Seek Clarification and Guidance from Health Professionals Regarding Pain Relief and Comfort Provision

·       Psychological and Emotional Impact on the Person, Their Family, Carer, and Others During Palliative or End-of-Life Care

·       Nutritional and Hydration Requirements When Using a Palliative Approach

·       Legal and ethical considerations for working in palliative care

·       Organisational policies and procedures for providing care using a palliative approach and provision of palliative care

·       Processes for Managing Own Emotional Responses and Self-Care Strategies

·       Various signs of imminent death and deterioration

·       Processes for care of the deceased person’s body

·       Communication strategies to build trust, show empathy, demonstrate support and empower the person, their family, carer and others

Section B: Performance Tasks

·       Recognise the holistic needs of the person extending over time, not just end-of-life.

·       Support the person, their family, carer and others identified by the person to express needs and preferences and report information to supervisor.

·       Communicate with the person, their family, carer and others identified by the person in relation to the person’s quality-of-life, pain and comfort and report information to supervisor.

·       Adjust communication techniques to meet the individual needs of the person and their family, carer and others identified by the person.

·       Respect the family, carer and others identified by the person as an integral part of the care team and ensure that they have the information and support needed.

·       Create a supportive environment that encourages the person, their family, carer and others identified by the person to share information regarding changing needs and preferences.

·       Respect the person’s individuality, values and beliefs in the context of support provision.

·       Recognise needs and issues outside the scope of own job role and refer to supervisor.

·       Communicate with the person, their family, carer or others identified by the person in a manner that shows empathy and provides emotional support.

·       Interpret and follow advance care directives in the individualised plan in accordance with own job role and organisational, legal and ethical requirements.

·       Comply with end-of-life decisions as documented in the individualised plan and in accordance with legal requirements.

·       Report the person’s changing needs and issues in relation to end-of-life for documentation in the individualised plan according to organisational policies and procedures.

·       Monitor the impact of the person’s end-of-life needs, issues and decisions on their family, carer and others and refer to appropriate member of the care team for support according to organisational policies and procedures.

·       Deliver services in a manner that supports the person’s right to choose the location of their end-of-life care.

·       Observe and document the person’s pain and other symptoms in line with individualised plan and report to appropriate member of the care team.

·       Implement strategies to manage pain and promote comfort in line with individualised plan and within scope of own job role.

·       Document effectiveness of pain management strategies.

·       Recognise and report concerns in the workplace surrounding the use of pain-relieving medication.

·       Regularly check for any changes on individualised plan that indicate decisions made by the person have been reviewed.

·       Provide a supportive environment to the person, their family, carer, others identified by the person and others involved in end-of-life care.

·       Respect and support the person’s preferences and culture when providing end-of-life care according to individualised plan and within scope of own job role.

·       Maintain dignity of the person when providing planned end-of-life care and care immediately following death.

·       Recognise any signs of the person’s deterioration or imminent death and dying and report to appropriate member of care team, according to organisational policies and procedures.

·       Provide emotional support to the family, carer and others when a death has occurred, within scope of own job role.

·       Follow organisational policies and procedures to manage own emotional responses and ethical issues.

·       Identify and reflect on own emotional responses to death and dying and raise and discuss any issues or reactions with supervisor or other appropriate person.

·       Raise any ethical issues or concerns with supervisor or other appropriate person.

·       Determine and action self-care strategies to address the potential impact of personal responses on self.

·       Access bereavement care and support of other team members as needed.

·       Support, report and document issues and needs of three people receiving palliative care, including:

o   supporting the person’s needs and preferences in relation to their care

o   responding to changing needs and circumstances in the person’s care

o   providing emotional support to the person, their family or carer as required

o   completing documentation in a timely, accurate and objective manner according to organisational policies and procedures

·       At least one of the above people must be receiving end-of-life care.

·       Reflect on own emotional responses to death and dying and discuss with supervisor on at least one occasion.

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.

COURSE DELIVERY:

Purchase and download course content.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.