Ms Mika Musgrave-Takeda1,2, Esther Wen2, Dr Neil Robinson2,3, Dr Rachel Everitt2,3, Isabella Hall2,4, Dr Laura Bird2,3, Emmy Trinh2,3, Dr Scott Reeves2,3, Tanya Dale5, Dr Catriona Parker4, Associate Professor Peter Poon2,3
1Holmesglen Institute, Moorabbin, Australia, 2Supportive and Palliative Care Unit, Monash Health, Clayton, Australia, 3School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Australia, 4School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 5Regis Healthcare Limited, Australia
Biography:
Mika Musgrave-Takeda is a Lecturer in Nursing at Holmesglen Institute, and also holds a nursing research role at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. Mika has previous experience in research with Monash Health, where she helped lead two implementation projects in palliative care settings. She has also held research roles with the Australian Catholic University and Chiba University in Japan. Mika has a broad interest in gerontology and aged care, and the work she has authored and collaborated on has been published in renowned international journals.
Abstract:
Background:
An exploratory survey of health professionals was conducted during co-design of a palliative care model in residential aged care facilities (RACF), where a specialist palliative care clinical nurse consultant (CNC) was embedded within hospital residential in-reach (RIR) services. This survey identified limited resources, support, knowledge gaps, and challenges with family engagement as perceived barriers to providing palliative care in RACFs. It identified mentoring, care coordination and liaison as key expectations for the new CNC role. In response, multidisciplinary stakeholder meetings defined the new role by four pillars, one being educational support.
Aim:
Develop and deliver a specialist palliative care CNC-led education model to healthcare professionals and identify acceptability and effectiveness in RACFs.
Methods:
Educational needs were identified by pre-implementation surveys of RACF staff. As the educational needs of each organisation vary due to workforce composition, session timing, content, and duration were tailored for each facility in collaboration with the facility’s manager and educators. Feedback was obtained post-session, and educational impact of the CNC role was included in post-implementation surveys. Data collection and study design were informed by the CFIR framework.
Results:
One-day educational sessions were delivered to health care professionals at two public RACFs. Three hour-long sessions were delivered to a privately run RACF. On average, 10 nurses and 15 assistants-in nursing attended each session. 80% of respondents indicated they were satisfied with content and delivery. Post-implementation evaluation is ongoing, with preliminary results showing that sessions, especially those conducted in-person, were highly valued.
Conclusion:
A stakeholder-informed approach successfully guided the development and plan for subsequent integration of a novel specialist palliative care CNC role within RIR services. Although each facility had online modules for palliative care, the results show that demand for In-person education is warranted, and additional sessions may be beneficial for RACF staff due to time constraints.