An Education Initiative to Improve End of Life (EOL) Care in Undergraduate Curricula

Abstract

In today’s complex health care delivery system, patients with serious and chronic illness and their families demand that nurses and their interprofessional team be well versed in palliative and end of life (EOL) care techniques. Although there is evidence supporting the value of EOL care, the number of health care professionals fitted and available to provide this care is inadequate to meet the needs of patients and families across the lifespan. It is therefore imperative that future nurses be prepared with the knowledge, attitude, and skills to provide empathetic, efficient EOL care to the chronically ill. The following presentation will discuss the importance of improving EOL care modules in the undergraduate curriculum with an emphasis on improving communication techniques founded in empathy. It will highlight innovative ways to enhance teaching and learning. By synthesizing current literature, and identifying the theory-practice gap, a new curricular redesign will be formatted for consideration of future use combining traditional pedagogies and forum theater methodologies to improve students’ perceived level of comfort having difficult EOL conversations grounded in empathy and effective communication techniques.