Exploring the impact of palliative care education for care assistants employed in residential aged care facilities in Otago, New Zealand

Abstract

Palliative care is a growing specialty in New Zealand with many well established hospices and a growing number of hospital based advisory services. Palliative care is an element of all healthcare services and the aged care sector is one of those services where many of the residents have palliative care needs. In this setting, care assistants make up a large component of the workforce providing care for residents with increasingly complex needs. This article reports the results of a research study that used semi structured interviews to explore the impact that attending a palliative care course had on care assistants and their practice. Factors identifying the implementation of learning in the workplace were also identified. The results showed that while attending the course had a positive impact on participants; they were restricted in their ability to apply new learning in the workplace. Consequently, recommendations are made to enhance workforce development in the aged care sector and to minimise the barriers to the implementation of learning.

A qualitative study of assistant nurses' experiences of palliative care in residential care

“…Otherwise, the gap between the intended care and the practiced care of ANs may cause inner dilemmas, leading to stress as well as risking mental exhaustion (Gustafsson & Szebehely, ; Udo, Danielson, & Melin‐Johansson et al., ). In the long run, these inner conflicts can lead to burnout, high attrition rates, lack of consistency of care and, eventually, the departure of experienced caregivers from palliative care (Latta & Ross, ). It is well known that to give good care, staff members also need support and care (Armstrong & Daly, ).…”

What factors predict the confidence of palliative care delivery in long‐term care staff? A mixed‐methods study

“…Within LTC, a skilled workforce influences resident outcomes, for example by reducing acute hospitalisations, a potentially hazardous outcome for frail older people (Gill, Allore, Holford, & Guo, ; Ouslander et al, ). Internationally, education is viewed as an efficacious method for optimising palliative care provision in this setting (Latta & Ross, ; Phillips et al, ). Continuing education contributes to perceived clinical competence and confidence (Latta & Ross, ).…”

“…Internationally, education is viewed as an efficacious method for optimising palliative care provision in this setting (Latta & Ross, ; Phillips et al, ). Continuing education contributes to perceived clinical competence and confidence (Latta & Ross, ). LTCF staff's desire to engage in further palliative care education is based in part on previous palliative care experience (Frey, Boyd, Foster, Robinson, & Gott, ).…”

Necessary but not yet sufficient: a survey of aged residential care staff perceptions of palliative care communication, education and delivery

“…Internationally, education has been seen as the most effective way of tackling deficiencies in palliative care provision in this setting 3 23. Yet the translation of educational interventions to the real-life setting of ARC remains a major challenge 35. As the present study indicates, while the majority of participants report having access, less than half report undertaking any palliative care education.…”