Palliative Care Nursing

Main objective: To know the basics of the integrated nurse care related to Palliative Care.

Specific objectives:
- To know the concepts and definitions relevant to palliative care.
- To recognize patients with chronic complex diseases or who need palliative care at the end-of-life.
- To be able to collaborate with the teams and plans for the multidisciplinary palliative care.
- To incorporate the deontology and ethical principles to the nurse care of the patients with chronic complex disease or at the end-of-life.
- To know and tho know how to apply the main support procedures and symptoms control treatments in patients with palliative care.
- To gain communication and psychoemotional support skills with patients and their families.
- To know the processes of therapy optimization in persons with chronic complex diseases and palliative care.

General description:
Basic knowledge for the nursing integrate care of patients who need palliative care and their families.

Subjects:

1. Past, preent and future of Palliative Care
2. Concepts and definitions in palliative care
3. Assessment of patients with diseases that have no cure or who are in the end-of-life
4. Planning, organization and team work in palliative care
5. Ethical aspects in palliative care and end-of-life
6. Communication in palliative care
7. Symptoms control in palliative care
8. Analgesia and sedation in palliative care
9. Drug administration routes and techniques
10. Psychological support in palliative care
11. Support to caregivers (families and professionals)

- A. García González. Enfermería en cuidados paliativos. 2017. Editorial Universitaria Ramón Areces
- J. González Otero. Cuidados paliativos. Recomendaciones terapéuticas para Atención Primaria. 2013. Editorial Panamericana.
- Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios sociales e Igualdad. Cuidados paliativos pediátricos en el sistema nacional de salud: Criterio de atención. 2014.
- I. Astigarraga. Medicina paliativa en niños y adolescentes.
- B. Martínez Cruz. Enfermería en cuidados paliativos y al final de la vida. 2012
- Timothy E. Quill. Palliative Care and ethics. Oxford University Press. 2016.
- Ann Goldman. Oxford texbook of Paliative Care for children. 2012.
- C. Walshe. Palliative Care Nursing (3rd ed.). Open University Press. 2018.
- M. Matzo. Palliative care nursing. Springer, 2018.
- M.L. Campbell. Case studies in palliative and enf-of-life care. 2012.
- Sociedad Española de Cuidados Paliativos (SECPAL). Guía de Cuidados Paliativos. SECPAL, 2010.

- To know the concepts and definitions that apply to the care of patients in palliative care and at the end-of-life.
- To know the palliative care plans and the nurses' roles in the multidisciplinary and team work care of this patients.
- To be able to perform a basic assessment of patients with diseases that have no cure and to collaborate with the team in the planning of care.
- To recognized the ethical aspects related to palliative care and end-of-life, as well as the basis for the shared decision making processes and the analysis of potential ethical conflicts in those patients.
- To know and to know how to apply the basis for symptoms control, specially pain, in patients with palliative care.
- To gain communication skills and for the management of psychological aspects in palliative care.

Lectures about the basis of the subject.
Interactive sessions based on clinical cases and simulated scenarios, with active participation of students (individually or in groups).
Elaboration and presentation of works in groups.
Elaboration and presentation of individual works.
Lecture and comments of specific bibliographic references.
Individual or group mentoring with interactive methodology.

Notes:
Expositive and interactive teaching activities will be face to face, although some hybrid Teams sessions can be considered.
Mentorship can be partially virtual.

Final marks will be the sum of marks from theoretical assessment and other activities of the student with the following percentages:

THEORETICAL CONTENTS: The knowledge of theoretical aspects will be assessed by means of objective multiple choice questionnaires. They will represent between 50 and 70% of the final evaluation mark.

INTERACTIVE CONTENTS: The knowledge acquired will be assessed by means objective tests and/or required tasks. Assistance and active participation will be valued. This part will represent between 30 and 50% of the final evaluation mark.

To pass the subject the student has to obtain more than 55% of the total possible points in the theoretical contents and more than 55% also in the interactive contents.

Lectures: 14 hours
Interactive activities: 10 hours
Mentorship: 1,5 hours
Theoretical assessment: 1 hour

Personal work of the student, at home or library:
The subject sums 3 ECTS. Each ECTS credits equals 25 hours: 16,5 devoted to autonomous work of the student. Thn, the time devoted to study and personal activity is estimated as 49,5 hours.

1.To assist and actively participate in all the face to face activities.
2. To study and prepare the topics in a continued and systematic way.
3. To comment doubts with the professor.
4. To try to inter-connect the contents, looking for their usefulness and repercussion on the professional practice.
5. To consider the study as a learning tool complementary to the other matters and not a content that has to study to pass on exam.
6. To regularly assist to the library to know and review the relevant bibliography for each topic.
7. To look for situations and problems in the daily reality that may be of stimulus for the study of the subject.
8. To actively engage in seminars and laboratories, as a method to obtain the best results of such sessions and to acquire the capacity that will be necessary in the future job activity.
9. By means of constructive critics, to try to give inputs to improve the content and dynamics of the subject.

- The teaching of this grade is face to face, being mandatory the presence in the classroom both for lectures and interactive sessions. The absences due to relevant causes will be accredited to the teacher.
Exceptions will by applied in the cases determined by the centre.

- According to article 9.2.of the Student's Statute of USC and the article 36 of the Organic Law of the University System, and with the goal of stimulate participation and responsibility in the learning activities, in the lectures and interactive activities does not permitted the use of electronic devices (phones, tablets, computers, etc) unless the professor gives concrete authorization.

- To the assistance of the students with specific needs the Protocol for assistance of handicapped persons (Area for integration of the Service for Participation and University Integration of the USC) will be applied. The needed methodological and curricular adaptations to respond such educational needs of such students will be performed.

- For the eventual cases of fraud in tests the “Norms for academic performance assessment and review of the scores" of the USC will be applied.

- I is mandatory to use the communication institutional tools (USC e-mail, virtual campus, etc.).