Resources and Educational Material

Here you will find Valuable information to assist you in caring for Palliative and Hospice patients of all ages and offering guidance to those caring for them throughout their disease processes.

Some of the links below are PDFs. You will need acrobat reader to open them.

General

• CAPCconnect Forum - A free resource for health care professionals who want to share information, exchange ideas, and get advice from their colleagues on operational issues.
• Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care- 2013 guidelines from the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care.
• Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association - Professional nursing organization, offering education, resources, research, and certification.
• Pallimed - A Hospice and Palliative Care blog, including case studies and monthly grand rounds.
• Professional Certification - Information on certification for physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains.
• Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care - Clinical, educational, evaluation, organizational, and research tools as well as resources on many end-of-life topics.
• Standards of Practice for Hospice Programs - 2010 guidelines from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
• What is Palliative Care: Information and Resources for Healthcare Professionals - General information for healthcare professionals. 

Advance Care Planning/Communication

• Advice for Physicians Caring for Dying Patients - Tips to help physicians discuss end-of-life issues with their patients.
• POLST: Honoring Patients' Wishes for Treatment - 47-minute video discusses the CA POLST program, its implications, and how physicians have the POLST conversation with a patient.
• Talking About Treatment Options and Palliative Care - A Guide for Clinicians. 

Legal/Ethical

• California's Health Care Decisions Law Fact Sheet
• Determining The Appropriate Decision-Maker
• Guide for Assessing Medical Decision-Making Capacity 

Pain/Symptom Management

• Suggestions for End-of-Life Symptom Management (Adult)

Pain Assessment Scales

• Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability scale - Validated in children between 2 mos-7yrs, individuals that are unable to communicate their pain.
• Neonatal Pain, Agitation, & Sedation Scale (NPASS) - For use in pre-term and term neonates.
• Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) - For use with individuals who can point to or state the number that reflects their current pain level.
• Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia Scale (PAINAD) - Validated in older adults with dementia or cognitive impairment who are unable to reliably communicate their pain.
• Pain Assessment Tool for Non-Cognizant Adults
• Verbal Descriptor Scale (Pain Thermometer) - For use with any patient, especially those with moderate to severe cognitive impairment.
• Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale - For children over the age of 3 who can point to the face that reflects their current pain level.

Pediatrics

• Pediatric Concurrent Care Continuum Briefing - Overview of Concurrent Care for Children provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
• Standards of Practice for Pediatric Palliative Care and Hospice - 2009 guidelines from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
• The Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care (IPPC) - Education and quality improvement effort aimed at enhancing care for children with life-threatening conditions.

Critical Care

• Acute and Critical Care Choices: Guide to Advance Health Care Directives - Information for critical care nurses about legal, ethical, and transcultural principles guiding the preparation of advance directives, advance directive documents and materials for patient education.
• The IPAL Project - Improving Palliative Care in the ICU.

Education

• CancerPEN Open Modules - Educational modules on cancer palliation, including artificial nutrition/hydration, survivorship, anxiety and depression, and bereavement.
• Care at the Close of Life: Evidence and Experience - Journal of the American Medical Association educational guide with many end-of-life topics.
• Center for Palliative Care Education - Educational resource center and training program for HIV/AIDS Palliative Care.
• Complimentary E-Learning Courses Offered for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellows - Center to Advance Palliative Care.
• Continuing Education Curriculum for Hospice and Palliative Care Physicians - Resources for physicians from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
• Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care - Education for all health care professionals in the essential competencies of Palliative Care.
• Educational Modules for the Critical Care Communication (C3) Course - 7 learning modules covering fundamental communication skills, giving bad news, determining goals of care, resuscitation preferences, holding a family conference, discussing the dying process, and navigating conflict.
• End-Of-Life Issues - Ten modules from the American Psychological Association on topics including psychological distress, pain management, cognitive disorders, grief and bereavement, religious/spiritual issues, family caregiving, teamwork, legal/ethical, and advance care planning.
• End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) - National education initiative to improve palliative care by training nurses in palliative care.
• End of Life Online Curriculum - 9 modules from Stanford on dyspnea, Hospice, opioid conversion, prognostication, transition to death, palliative sedation, communication, and bereavement.
• End of Life/Palliative Education Resource Center - Fast facts on almost 300 topics, educational materials, and research.
• EthnoMed End of Life Clinical Topics - Cultural considerations in end-of-life care.
• IPPC Curriculum - Free online education about pediatric Palliative Care.
• LearnICU: Ethics & End of Life - Educational resources from the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) Educational Calendar - Educational offerings of the NHPCO.
• NHPCO Webinars - Interdisciplinary topics 2nd Thursday of each month, quality/regulatory topics 4th Tuesdays of each month.
• Self Assessment: Palliative and End-of-Life Care - Test your knowledge of palliative care with this tool from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN).
• Training and Education - List of educational offerings from the Center to Advance Palliative Care.

Research

• End-of-Life Care Research Program - University of Washington School of Medicine.
• Innovations in End-of-Life Care - An international journal of leaders in end-of-life care.
• National Palliative Care Research Center - Committed to stimulating, developing, and funding research directed at improving care for seriously ill patients and their families.
• Spotlight on End-of-Life Research - National Institute of Nursing Research.