An end-of-life nursing education consortium (ELNEC) regional approach to integrating primary palliative care in nursing education

Abstract

With the concurrent movement toward competency-based nursing education and the incorporation of Hospice, Palliative, and Supportive Care as one of the four spheres of care in the latest AACN Essentials, nurse educators face a myriad of challenges in incorporating palliative care content into undergraduate and graduate curricula. The challenges include: a lack of faculty expertise in palliative care education; a lack of administrative or faculty support to include primary palliative care content in nursing curricula; a lack of evidence-based teaching strategies on primary palliative care nursing education; and, a lack of funding to support the development of robust, evidence-based strategies to strengthen primary palliative care nursing education. The purpose of this article is to describe an innovative regional approach advancing primary palliative care nursing education. A network of palliative care educators was established to support faculty in developing palliative care content in their curricula. To ensure nursing students are practice-ready, both undergraduate and graduate programs must provide education that builds knowledge and competency in primary palliative nursing care. Sustained funding is essential to enhance faculty expertise and further develop effective teaching innovations within this field.