Education in palliative care: making a difference to practice?

This article presents part of a multiphase evaluation project, which aims to investigate the effectiveness of a number of palliative care educational programmes provided by a hospice education network in the north of England. Information is reported from four cohorts of students (n = 46) who undertook courses between October 1998 and April 2000. Particular emphasis was placed on the views of students and whether education made a difference to their clinical practice. An action research approach was used which asked the question 'Does education develop competent confident practitioners, who are able to initiate changes in their practice?' Early indications suggest that education does make a difference to practice. Students reporting feeling more confident, having a greater knowledge of palliative care and being more skilled in caring for patients and their families. Furthermore, students have made recognizable changes to their practice, some of which are detailed here.