end of life nursing education consortium

Resources for

Palliative & End-of-Life Care

Palliative care in acute & critical care settings.

The goal of palliative care is to address the impact of serious illness by managing symptoms, improving quality of life, providing emotional support and ensuring that the plan of care aligns with patient and family goals. Under usual circumstances, there is significant overlap between nursing basics — interaction between patient and disease — and palliative care.

AACN offers resources to support nurses as they care for patients with serious illnesses and those nearing the end of their lives, as well as education for staff members who don’t usually provide this kind of care. In addition, several respected organizations offer widely recognized resources on these topics, including the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium/ELNEC (palliative care training), Center to Advance Palliative Care (toolkits) and Vital Talk program (communication skills) .

Facts & Figures

Remember that (palliative care) can be offered simultaneously with curative, aggressive, lifesaving treatments. People do not have to wait. They do not have to choose. Clareen Wiencek, PhD, RN, ACHPN, ACNP, AACN past president

What’s the Difference?

There are sometimes subtle distinctions between palliative, end-of-life and hospice care, including patient prognosis, goals of care and insurance reimbursement.

Palliative Care

• Palliative care is appropriate at any time in the trajectory of serious illness or injury and does not replace curative interventions.
• Palliative care communication skills can be used to explain prognosis or uncertainty about prognosis and to elicit patient and family perspectives even if a change in the plan of care does not occur.
• Insurance reimburses for specialty palliative care in the same way other consultative services are paid for and does not depend on a specific prognosis.
• In some instances, palliative care is delivered by the primary care team instead of as an additional service. This is called primary palliative care.
• Palliative care is given in many settings, including ICU, PCU, acute care or outpatient.

End-of-Life Care & Hospice

• End-of-life care generally refers to patient care before death, either while undergoing curative treatment or after deciding to focus on comfort rather than cure.
• With some serious illnesses, prognosis is uncertain and it is unclear if the care provided is end-of-life or life sustaining.
• When patients have a prognosis of six months or less, they are eligible to enroll in hospice through their insurance coverage.
• Hospice organizations provide a comprehensive set of services aimed at promoting comfort, and providing emotional support and education on what to expect during the dying process.
• Hospice services can be delivered to patients at home, in a skilled nursing facility or in a hospital.

Key Resources

Communication skills and education can increase your confidence when discussing goals of care with patients and families. Keep up with the latest developments in palliative care with this selection of AACN resources, designed to help you deliver the best possible evidence-based care.

Palliative Care and Moral Distress: An institutional Survey of Critical Care Nurses

Do you or your colleagues experience moral distress providing curative treatment to patients with a poor prognosis? Read this journal article to learn about the association between palliative care skills and moral distress.

A Passion for Palliative Care

Palliative care nurse practitioner and AACN past president Clareen Wiencek answers common questions about the intersection of palliative and critical care in this Q&A article. Consider how her insights and expertise from four decades of nursing could apply to your practice.

Palliative Care in the ICU

Examine end-of-life patterns in chronically and critically ill patients, and identify the pharmacologic methods for providing comfort in this recorded session.

Providing Primary Palliative Care in the ICU

Learn key skills every critical care nurse should have to talk with patients about palliative care and collaborate with the team for family meetings.

Palliative Care in the ICU: Communication Skills in Practice

View videos demonstrating essential communication skills for providing primary palliative care in this interactive case-based webinar.

AACN Position Statement: Ethical Triage and End-of-Life Care

AACN’s position statement gives specific actions for nurses and organizations when triage guidelines apply to the allocation of scarce resource.

Additional Resources

Access AACN’s complete library of programs and publications on palliative and end-of-life care. This compilation of resources includes journal articles, webinars and CE activities to improve your understanding of palliative and end-of-life care, and enhance your practice.

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ELNEC (The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium)

People in our country deny death, believing that medical science can cure any patient. Death often is seen as a failure of the health care system rather than a natural aspect of life. This belief affects all health professionals. Despite their undisputed technical and interpersonal skills, healthcare professionals may not be completely comfortable with the specialized knowledge and skills needed at the end of life.  

The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) project is a national education initiative to improve palliative care. The curriculum was developed by nationally recognized palliative care experts with extensive input from an advisory board and reviewers. ELNEC gives professionals the knowledge and skills required to positively impact the lives of patients and families facing serious illness or the end of life.  

Continuing Education credit is available.  

The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Project is a national and international end-of-life/palliative care educational program administered by City of Hope (COH) designed to enhance palliative care in nursing. Materials are copyrighted by City of Hope and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and are used with permission.

ELNEC features specially-trained, experienced healthcare professionals addressing eight core topics:  

• Nursing care at the end of life
• Pain management
• Symptom management
• Ethical/legal issues
• Cultural considerations in end-of-life care
• Communication
• Loss, grief, and bereavement
• Preparation for and care at the time of death

Registration

Registration is required; space is limited. No walk-in registrations will be accepted. Registration includes a training manual, CE certificate, and refreshments. Lunch is provided in all three sessions.

End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium Curriculum Gives CON Students Greater Understanding of Palliative Care

College of nursing, centers & programs, admissions info, current students, student services, faculty info, education, training & workforce projects, college of nursing community.

University of Utah’s College of Nursing (CON) has long been considered a center of excellence. The College is nationally ranked for many of its programs, including the Online Master of Science in Nursing Education Program, Nursing-Midwifery Program, Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, and the Online Master of Science in Nursing Program. The CON continues to set a high standard for healthcare education with its addition of curriculum from End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) .

ELNEC is a national and international healthcare education initiative that provides graduate and undergraduate coursework focused on improving palliative care. ELNEC was established in 2000 by the City of Hope National Medical Center. Today, ELNEC is a collaborative effort supported by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

The ELNEC curriculum was first made available to University of Utah undergraduate nursing students in the fall semester of 2016 when Nanci McLeskey, DNP, MCG, MDiv, RN-BC, CHPN, FNGNA , launched a pilot of the ELNEC Undergraduate/New Graduate Curriculum as an optional course. Sixty-six percent of undergraduate nursing students completed the course the first year it launched.

“The first year was very successful,” said McLeskey, who is an associate professor in the Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program (GIP) and in the undergraduate nursing program, and a trained facilitator for the ELNEC curriculum. “The students who completed the course during that first year came back to the CON faculty on their own and said, ‘it’s really important information and we have to have it in our curriculum.’”

Since then, the ELNEC Undergraduate/New Graduate Curriculum has been a required foundational nursing course for first year nursing students, taken in their first semester of the program.

“This course gives a really unique perspective on healthcare,” said Michael McCarthy, a first-year nursing student currently enrolled in the ELNEC course. “I think it’s really important for nursing students to learn about these topics so we can be prepared to give the best possible care to our patients, no matter what area of nursing we end up focusing on after graduation.”

The ELNEC curriculum consists of six online modules that cover different areas of palliative care: communication, pain management, symptom management, loss, grief and bereavement, and final hours of life.

McLeskey is not the only faculty member working to implement the ELNEC curriculum. Associate Professor (Clinical) Ann Butt has been another champion and driving force in getting the curriculum established, and finding it a home within the CON.

“We’ve worked hard to orchestrate the timing of the modules so each of the modules are aligned with similar topics students are learning about in their Foundations of Nursing course,” said McLeskey.

And even though the modules are online, McLeskey and Butt have created a system to ensure that students are able to discuss key takeaways and debrief at the end of each module. Additionally, after completing the last module, Final Hours of Life, the students have a Sim Lab experience where they are able to apply what they have learned in ELNEC.

“I can’t imagine giving this information to anyone without being able to have some kind of dialogue with them,” said McLeskey. “After each module, I spend some time with the students, talking about the objectives they should come away with. It’s been really great. They are very engaged, involved, and they are really learning this important information.”

The ELNEC course has been made available at no cost to students in the CON over the last couple of years, thanks to the Utah Geriatric Education Consortium which is supported by a Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program from the Health Resources and Services Agency (HRSA).

McLeskey and Butt’s hard work is not going unnoticed. McLeskey has met with other nursing schools across the country to advise and give input on how to successfully integrate the ELNEC curriculum into existing course loads.

McLeskey’s passion for working and interacting with older adults started at an early age. “Growing up my grandmother was one of my best friends,” said McLeskey. “She loved taking me to her church, and we would have lunch and then visit with her 80-year-old friends. I loved being with her, and I didn’t realize until I was older that it wasn’t the norm to hang out with your grandmother all the time.”

Prior to joining the University of Utah in 2012, McLeskey worked 20+ years as an intensive care unit and medical-surgical nurse. She’s also been an Alzheimer’s director in an assisted living facility and has worked a nurse educator in both long-term care and in the U Health Geriatrics Division.  Although McLeskey’s passion for palliative care comes from her experience in working with older adults, palliative care is important for all patient groups—no matter their age.

“Most of these nursing students aren’t going to end up being hospice or home health nurses,” said McLeskey. “But the ELNEC content transitions to whatever setting these future nurses are going to be working in. How do you talk about difficult things with patients and families? How do you communicate better? There’s pain and suffering—no matter the age of your patients—so all of these skills are important for nursing students to learn, even if they don’t end up working in hospice.”

Lynn F. Reinke, PhD, ARNP, FAAN, FPCN , shares this same passion for palliative care. Reinke was recently appointed as the inaugural Claire Dumke Ryberg, RN, Presidential Endowed Chair in End-of-Life/Palliative Care at the CON.

The ELNEC curriculum is an important piece of Reinke’s vision, to build a center of excellence within the college of nursing focused on palliative and end of life care.

“Palliative care is for any patient living with a serious illness,” said Reinke. “It focuses on relieving symptoms, improving quality of life, addressing spiritual distress, social needs and most importantly ensures that the care the patients receive aligns with their goals and what’s important to them in their lives.”

Oftentimes palliative care is confused with hospice care. However, hospice is for patients with an estimated life expectancy of six months of less.

“It’s very common to confuse the two as they are related, but we really like to emphasize that palliative care can be very beneficial to anyone who has a serious illness, no matter their age or life situation,” said Reinke. “And thanks to the efforts of Nanci and her colleagues, the College will continue to set an exemplary standard for healthcare education with the amazing resources we have to offer our students.”

The end-of-life nursing education consortium (ELNEC) experience

Affiliation.

• 1 Union institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. [email protected]
• PMID: 14624125
• DOI: 10.1097/00006223-200311000-00008

The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) is a train-the-trainer educational program to help nursing faculty integrate care of the dying patient and the patient's family in the nursing curriculum. The authors describe the ELNEC experience, which prepares nurse educators to competently teach end-of-life care, and provides them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources to effectively integrate end-of-life content into existing nursing curricula.

Publication types

• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
• Attitude of Health Personnel
• Attitude to Death
• Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate / organization & administration*
• Education, Nursing, Continuing / organization & administration*
• Faculty, Nursing*
• Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
• Quality of Life
• Teaching Materials
• Terminal Care* / methods
• Terminal Care* / psychology

Rural Nursing Education Consortium receives 2024 Outstanding Rural Health Program after producing homegrown nurses

A MARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — Amarillo College announced that the National Rural Health Association recently named the Rural Nursing Education Consortium as the 2024 winner of its Outstanding Rural Health Program after the program was created in 2019 to assist in providing homegrown nurses to Consortium hospitals throughout the Texas Panhandle.

According to AC, RNEC was established on Feb. 26, 2019, and has produced around 100 homegrown graduates since its inception.

The award, a release from AC read, “spotlights exceptional commitment to advancing healthcare accessibility and education within rural communities.” The award will be presented on May 9 at NRHA’s 47th annual Rural Health Conference in New Orleans.

“This is an incredible and gratifying honor,” said Dr. Tamara Clunis, AC’s vice president of academic affairs. “It certainly reinforces the commitment of all the RNEC partners who have stepped up to establish a proactive solution to a very real rural nursing shortage.”

RNEC is comprised of higher education partners Amarillo College, Frank Phillips College, and West Texas A&M University along with rural hospitals including:

• Dallam County Hospital District;
• Golden Plains Hospital;
• Hereford Regional Medical Center;
• Moore County Hospital District; and
• Ochiltree General Hospital.

Officials noted that RNEC was also established to provide expanded nursing education opportunities to colleges within their service areas with participating hospitals also providing classrooms and serving as clinical sites.

Within the program, AC delivers its Associate Degree Nursing curriculum at each participating hospital district while Frank Phillips College offers its Vocational Nursing program to students. WTAMU also provides educational resources for graduates pursuing a baccalaureate nursing degree.

Through RNEC, officials noted that AC has produced a total of 67 RNs while “many have achieved LVN success with Frank Phillips.”

Clunis explained that a major portion of RNEC graduates have accepted local job opportunities, further aiding RNEC’s goal of establishing homegrown nurses to “alleviate healthcare disparities in the Texas Panhandle,” the release read.

For the latest Amarillo news and regional updates, check with MyHighPlains.com and tune in to KAMR Local 4 News at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 p.m. and Fox 14 News at 9:00 p.m. CST.

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Rural Nursing Education Consortium wins national award for outstanding program

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The National Rural Health Association has awarded a team of three schools and five hospitals in the Panhandle for their commitment to rural community health.

The Rural Nursing Education Consortium (RNEC) was named the winner of the 2024 Outstanding Rural Health Program award, which spotlights exceptional commitment to advancing healthcare accessibility and education within rural communities, according to a press release.

The RNEC is comprised of:

• Amarillo College
• Frank Phillips College
• West Texas A&M University
• Dallam County Hospital District
• Golden Plains Hospital
• Hereford Regional Medical Center
• Moore County Hospital District
• Ochiltree General Hospital

“This is an incredible and gratifying honor,” said Dr. Tamara Clunis, Amarillo College vice president of academic affairs. “It certainly reinforces the commitment of all the RNEC partners who have stepped up to establish a proactive solution to a very real rural nursing shortage.”

The award will be presented to the RNEC Thursday, May 9, at the National Rural Health Association’s 47th Annual Rural Health Conference in New Orleans.

The consortium was first created in 2019 to help increase the number of homegrown nurses in the Panhandle.

Copyright 2024 KFDA. All rights reserved.

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