Mrs Sabina Clapham1, Mr Adam Rutyna2
1University Of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia, 2Loddon Mallee Regional Palliative Care Consortium, Bendigo, Australia
Biography:
Sabina Clapham is the Quality and Education manager for the Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC) and a Registered Nurse with experience in palliative care in various clinical, education, quality and project management positions. In her current position, Sabina ensures the implementation and sustainability of the PCOC program and leads clinical practice changes within PCOC services.
Abstract:
Background: Assessing the capabilities of palliative care services can help determine the level of palliative care that is delivered and to identify to what extent capabilities can be strengthened. In 2019, eight palliative care services within in one region used PCOC’s capability framework to describe services and identify key areas for quality improvement. A network quality improvement plan was lacking in this initial assessment.
Aim: Reassess the capabilities of these eight services four years later, to investigate the effectiveness of the capability framework in describing the abilities of services, identifying areas for potential improvement, and developing a quality improvement plan for the region. Explore the potential benefits for the managers involved.
Setting/participants: A regional palliative care coordinator and 15 nurse managers and service directors from eight palliative care services across one region.
Methods: Interviews with managers to evaluate service capabilities, identify opportunities for improvement, and track changes over the last four years. Additionally, written post-interview feedback to assess participant perceptions of the process benefits.
Results: Interviews conducted between January and February 2023 revealed that one service reported all 27 capabilities (Level 6) and the other services reported between 7 to 11 capabilities (Level 2-3). There were no changes in service level, however, four of the eight services reported they had strengthened the services’ capabilities since 2019. Across the network, three common areas for improvement emerged (bereavement, after-hours support, and assessment). Nurse managers valued the collaborative and supportive approach, particularly the identification of common areas for improvement in network plan.
Conclusion: The capability framework can be used by an individual service or by a network of services to evaluate strengths and gaps in service delivery. A coordinated and networked approach enabled the identification of shared improvement opportunities and proved valuable for harnessing the collective quality improvement efforts of nurse managers.