VCH staff offered free palliative care course
One of the main questions RN Scott Jones encounters in his work as the North Shore Palliative Program Clinical Educator is: “If I’m deemed palliative, does that mean the health care team will stop treating me and I’ll die soon?”
“The answer to that question is no,” says Scott. “Interdisciplinary team involvement and treatment continues in order to optimize quality of life (and people can even live longer) and supports are maximized so that people can go home if they want and enjoy the time they have to the fullest.”
Two-day course at North Shore Hospice
VCH staff members wishing to improve their competence in caring for palliative patients can register for a two-day Palliative Basics course being offered by the North Shore Palliative Program on May 17th and 18th at the North Shore Hospice.
The course will focus on the best ways to improve quality of life through proactive assessments and interventions tailored to meet the physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs of the patients, loved ones and caregivers.
(The video below showcases a new program and joint effort between VCH and the North Shore Hospice Society about the Every Day Counts program.)
Providing care and supporting individuals who have a life-threatening condition and will at some point face dying is an integral part of health care. As the population ages and the prevalence of chronic disease increases, more patients are being referred to palliative services and many health care providers have expressed an interest in knowing more about providing palliative support.
Basic concepts introduced
This course will be facilitated by the interdisciplinary North Shore palliative care team and will explore the following: the palliative approach, assessments and communication including goals of care discussions and reflection on values and beliefs, palliative symptom assessment and management, skin and wound care, spiritual and psychosocial care, ethical issues, end of life and bereavement support and the role of music therapy.
Staff can sign up for the course on CCRS (https://ccrs.vch.ca) by searching for Palliative. The course will be offered again Sept. 27 and 28, 2016.