Development and implementation of a palliative care link-nurse programme in care homes

The End of Life Care Strategy (Department of Health, 2008) stresses the importance of education for all healthcare professionals in the delivery of care in any setting. According to the recent End of Life Care report from the National Audit Office (2008), few care home staff have sufficient training in providing end-of-life care, highlighting communication skills and pain management as two target areas for training. This article explores the development and implementation by a hospice education department of a palliative care link nurse programme in care homes with nursing as a means of providing aspects of the required training. Maintaining the motivation and commitment of the care home staff and managers is seen as vital in sustaining the programme, which has been running successfully for 4 years. It is important to differentiate between care homes with nursing (those that used to be called nursing homes) and care homes without nursing (those that used to be called residential homes). The terminology has changed to reflect the different client group. An evaluation of the programme was undertaken after 1 year and the key findings are discussed and future developments are highlighted.