Palliative Care: A Different Approach (NL0611)

Course Format

This course is online. All course material is available online and is accessible immediately after purchase from your account homepage. Certificate of Completion is available immediately upon passing the exam.

Course Overview

The following ARTICLES are included in this course.

Article #1: The Development, Status, and Future of Palliative Care

This article begins by exploring why the care of seriously ill patients has become such an important issue in the United States, and why the current health care system (or lack of a system) is unable to cope with it.

It then looks at:

• past efforts to provide care for dying people
• the way that treatment of pain has evolved
• the growth of hospice care

This is followed by an analysis of:

• legal, social, and political concerns
• the research that has highlighted the problems and offered potential solutions
  (many of which have been tested and launched by private philanthropy)

Finally, it reports on the state of palliative care in America and offers some thoughts on its future.

Article #2: The Case for Hospital-based Palliative Care - Improving Quality, Reducing Cost

• Introduction: Time, Expertise, Support, and Coordination
• Palliative Care vs Hospice and “End-of-Life” Care
• A New Paradigm for Managing Serious and Chronic Illness
• Hallmarks of a New, Vital Trend: Expert Symptom Management, Communication and Coordination
• Building the Hospital of the Future
• Palliative Care Programs Maximize Hospital Efficiency and Lower Costs
• Improving Clinical Outcomes
• Providing Quality Care that Patient's Want
• Interview with Diane E. Meier M.D., Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care

Course Objectives

1. Describe why the care of seriously ill patients has become such an important issue in the United States.


2. Identify the 10 pillars of Palliative Care.


3. Explain how Palliative Care programs maximize hospital efficiency and lower costs.