Impact of Pediatric Palliative Care Intensive Educational Session on Resident Confidence in Caring for Children and Families with Serious Illness (QI727)

Abstract

Objectives: 1 Discuss basic tenants of pediatric palliative care in single bootcamp session 2 Apply knowledge to validated case-based scenarios 3 Analyze changes in confident with pediatric palliative care topics as a result of the bootcamp Background: Formal education and training in pediatric palliative care (PPC) have been shown to improve confidence in providing quality palliative and end of life care to pediatric patients Our pediatrics residency identified a lack of training and designed a single five-hour intensive educational session (bootcamp) to increase resident knowledge and confidence in providing PPC Aim Statement: To increase resident knowledge and confidence with management of patients receiving pediatric palliative care by 1 point on a 5-point Likert scale after one bootcamp session Methods: Residents elected to attend one five-hour bootcamp session, facilitated by a PPC physician certified in Education in Palliative and End-of-Life-Care-Pediatrics (EPEC-Peds) Teaching topics included introduction to PPC, communication techniques with role play, delineation of goals of care, end of life symptom management, bereavement, and advance care planning Communication skills training followed evidence-based curriculum designed by EPEC-Peds, as well as videos from the Courageous Parents Network Participants completed a pre- and post-assessment, measuring self-perception of knowledge and confidence on a 5-point Likert scale One session was completed in-person and one session was completed virtually as a result of COVID-19 physical distancing requirements Results: Ten residents from two academic programs, PGY-1 to PGY-4, attended the PPC bootcamp Improvement in resident knowledge and confidence was found in all tested topics and both bootcamp formats, via analysis of pre- and post-test means Participants expressed the largest post-intervention change in the following categories: filling out POLST form and completing DNR orders in EPIC, feeling equipped to provide post-mortem aftercare, and feeling confident in communication with families with serious illness Conclusions and Implications: Pediatric residents who participated in the bootcamp expressed increased knowledge and confidence in multiple aspects of PPC The five-hour bootcamp was an effective instructional method, both in-person and virtually Though the sample size was small, we intend to continue to offer quarterly bootcamps and improve PPC instruction