Objectives
• Students will acknowledge how they personally view incurable conditions and death
• Students will know how to explain the key concepts of palliative care and end-of-life care, how they are related to each other and how to apply this information in their work
• Students will know how to plan, carry out, assess and document the treatment and management of the symptoms and pain of patients in palliative care and how to counsel the patient and their family members by taking individual needs into account
• Students will know the principles and modes of administering pain medication and how to apply unmedicated pain management methods
• Students will know how to face, support and see to the needs of patients and their family members in a comprehensive manner and how to apply physical presence as a mode of support
• Students will know how to perform end-of-life care and postmortem care in a dignified manner by taking the family members of the deceased into account
Content of study unit
Contents
• Basics of palliative care, treatment policies and restrictions, predictive treatment plan
• Pain and symptomatic treatment in palliative care: total pain, pain indicators, pain medication, unmedicated treatment, shortness of breath, oral symptoms, constipation, fatigue, anxiety
• Comprehensive support for the patient and their family members: family-oriented approach, mental support, existential support, grief and hope
• Interaction and meetings: meeting patients and their family members, active interaction and communications
• End-of-life care: acknowledging that death is near, supporting the patient and their family members, nursing and symptomatic treatment of a dying patient, postmortem nursing
• Multiprofessional teamwork and self-reflection