Palliative Care Training During Fellowship: National Survey of Second-Year U.S. Nephrology Fellows (TH325-A)

Abstract

3. Describe the findings of APRN participants that elucidate future educational planning for APRNs. Workforce issues necessitate a focus on midcareer advanced practice nurses to promote primary palliative care. Although there are many palliative educational opportunities, there are few abilities to translate the education into practice. This is particularly true to advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), especially those in rural areas. Outside of nurse practitioner (NP) fellowships and observerships, there are few clinical experiences. Of these, there are limitations in patient care exposure due to licensure, time, expense, and support for all APRNs, rather than NPs. This session describes a novel APRN externshipda partnership between an academic medical center, a palliative care service, and a school of nursingdto incorporate palliative principles into practice. The tenet of the externship is to develop competence in palliative care while offering technical assistance and support by practicing APRNs. Specific areas of focus are: pain and symptom assessment and management; fostering communication skills; building an understanding of community resources such as hospice, palliative care, and home care; introducing concepts of business and finance in palliative care; and developing of safe practice with policy, procedure, and guideline development with a focus on rural providers. The goal is twofold. One part is to promote primary palliative APRN practice by allowing the APRN to develop basic skills. The second is to foster the consideration of specialty APRN palliative practice. The speakers will offer an overview of education and lessons learned while working to promote APRN education and access to care. Participants will be encouraged to assess partnerships and foundations in their own communities to create models within their environment.