Paper
Thursday, July 14, 2005
End-of-Life (EOL) Education for Continuing Education (CE) Providers and Staff Development (SD) Educators
Pam Malloy, RN, MN, OCN1, Patrick Coyne, RN, MSN, CS, CRNH, FAAN2, Anne Rhome, MPH, RN1, Rose Virani, RN, MHA, OCN3, Judith Paice, PhD, RN, FAAN4, Marcia Grant, RN, DNSc, FAAN3, and Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, FAAN3. (1) American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Inc, Washington DC, DC, USA, (2) Oncology and Pain Management, Medical College of Virginia/Massey Cancer Center, Richmond, VA, USA, (3) Nursing Research and Education, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA, (4) Division of Hematology/Oncology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, IL, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Identify a national nursing project related to end-of-life/palliative care for CE providers/SD educators |
| Learning Objective #2: Describe the impact (through evaluation data) that the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project has had on CE/SD nursing programs nationwide |
Nursing research has demonstrated that formal education has not prepared practicing nurses to provide optimum EOL care; yet, care of patients at the EOL is contingent on adequate preparation of nurses. In evaluating ways to provide education to practicing nurses, the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project team identified the importance of training CE providers and SD educators. The ELNEC project, supported by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (2000-2003), provided funding for three courses targeted specifically for CE providers and SD educators. The ELNEC project is a synthesis of research and knowledge in EOL care and is intended to assist clinical nurses with implementing scientifically based care in practice. Based on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Peaceful Death document, the ELNEC curriculum focuses on nine EOL core areas with detailed teaching materials to integrate content into nursing curricula and clinical practice. This presentation will provide evaluation data from 227 educators in clinical settings (i.e., hospitals, home and long-term care, cancer centers, etc.). Results are derived from the course evaluations, pre-assessment surveys with comparison at 12 month follow-up post course, and participant goals conducted pre-course, immediate post-course and at 6 and 12 month intervals post course. At 12 months post-course, participants reported significant improvement in the effectiveness of staff in care of the dying (x= 5.65 pre-course to x = 7.26 post-course; on a scale of 0=not effective to 10=very effective). In addition, there was improvement in the effectiveness of teaching and curriculum in EOL care. Barriers cited to EOL content implementation included: time, priority, budget constraints, physician and administrative support, staff fears, anxieties and lack of clinical experience. This national effort is a major step toward preparing clinical nurses and strengthening nursing knowledge in EOL care to improve care of the dying.