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EOL Essentials Project News

EDITION 10

Welcome to 2017 and the February edition of End-of-Life Essentials news, keeping you informed with what’s happening in the project and end-of-life care.

• What’s New in the Project?

• Sector News

• Latest Evidence

• For Your Notice Board

• Next Newsletter

What's New in the Project?

In Module 6 you will learn about how to respond when patient care isn’t progressing as expected. Escalation of patients’ suffering, families' sorrow and staff distress can occur quickly and requires urgent responses. This module covers several responses or options for resolving issues common in end-of-life care.

All modules provide clinically relevant and evidence-based learning materials with quizzes, links and educational videos. Clinicians are encouraged to examine their own practice and build on their individual expertise across a wide range of issues which are fundamental to quality end-of-life care in hospitals.

'I have just completed your six modules in end of life care. As an experienced nurse (but new to this field) I found the content informative in an easy to use learning style; it has given me a great toolkit to start my new role. I wish I had the opportunity to view it sooner as there are many skills & problem-solving tips that could have enhanced my practice earlier in my career. I will be recommending this site to others. Thank you.' Karen Brown, Clinical Nurse Cancer & Palliative Care.

Learn more here.

Sector News

Three things to do about health professionals’ knowledge of end of life law.
Health professionals need to know the law that governs withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment. Law is not at the centre of the clinical encounter, but it is part of the regulatory framework that governs these decisions. Failure to know and follow the law puts health professionals and their patients at risk.

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association has released a new end-of-life care position statement and issues brief . It calls for a nationally consistent framework for advance care planning, additional research for prognostication at the end of life and an information campaign for public awareness of end-of-life issues.

Latest Evidence

Each month we will feature a few articles that cover topics relevant to end-of-life care in hospitals:

Living with end-stage renal disease, what are the care needs? Moral issues can be raised by the changes to identities, relationships, values and responsibilities caused by renal disease. Support services for renal patients and their relatives should pay more attention to these issues in order to promote self-management.
A qualitative Australian study on the Completion of Limitation of Medical Treatment forms by junior doctors for patients with dementia: clinical, medicolegal and education perspectives.
A multi-site Australian study - Avoiding burdensome and futile resuscitation events: need for greater consultation with patients and families while the patient is well and competent prior to an acute hospital admission.

For your Notice Board

Each month we will feature a fact sheet, a poster or other resources that you can print and share on your notice board or in your tearoom.

Next Newsletter
March 2017

The End-of-Life Essentials News is distributed on the first Wednesday of each month.

You are welcome to forward the newsletter to others who may be interested or follow this link to subscribe to the newsletter. To share something, please email eolessentials@flinders.edu.au.

End-of-Life Essentials is based on the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s National Consensus Statement: Essential elements for safe and high-quality end-of-life care, and the Commission provides ongoing advice to the project.

End-of-Life Essentials is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health