Preparing New Graduate RNs to Provide Primary Palliative Care

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Palliative Care
• Oncology Nursing

Background:

• Over 90 million Americans require palliative and end-of-life care due to serious illness.
• Novice registered nurses (RNs) often lack adequate undergraduate preparation for this specialized care.
• There is a critical need to enhance nursing education in serious illness and end-of-life care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of integrating the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)-Undergraduate Curriculum into a nurse residency program.
• To assess the impact of the ELNEC curriculum on novice RNs' comfort, competence, and knowledge in palliative care.
• To determine if the nurse residency program can effectively prepare new nurses for primary palliative care.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study was conducted at a comprehensive cancer center involving 55 new RNs in 2018.
• The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)-Undergraduate Curriculum was integrated into the existing nurse residency program.
• Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires assessed changes in comfort, competence, and knowledge regarding palliative care.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements were observed in all eight evaluation questions post-intervention.
• Nurse residents demonstrated enhanced comfort, competence, and knowledge in six key areas of palliative care.
• A notable number of nurse residents reported implementing changes in their clinical practice within one month of completing the education.

Conclusions:

• Nurse residency programs represent a valuable opportunity to train novice nurses in primary palliative care.
• Integrating the ELNEC curriculum effectively prepares RNs to care for patients with serious illness and their families.
• This educational approach addresses a gap in nursing preparedness for end-of-life care.