Course Resources Archive

This module covers the underpinning knowledge and skills required to enable practitioners to be able to provide effective care for people who are at the end of their lives.

This module will cover the following topics:

• recognition of the terminal stages of illness, acute and chronic conditions;
• symptom profiles in the terminally ill and their management;
• interventions in the emergencies in palliative care, e.g. acute pain;
• spirituality at the end of life;
• hypercalcaemia, haemorrhage;
• the acceptable ethical and legal frameworks to help guide residents and relatives with acute or chronic illnesses or at the end of their lives;
• issues around hydration and nutrition;
• use of Liverpool End of Life Care pathway, the Gold Standards Framework and the Preferred Priorities of Care;
• the principles of bereavement as it affects the dying person and their relatives and carers;
• NICE guidelines surrounding supportive care at the end of life;

Underpinning themes running through all sessions will include accountability, communication skills, person centred care, personalisation and record keeping.

i.      Knowledge and understanding
On successful completion of the module students should be able to:

a) Recognise the signs and symptoms of terminal illness;
b) Understand how to implement methods of intervention appropriate to end of life care;
c) Explain the guidelines and frameworks that provide the context for end of life care.

ii. Skills

On successful completion of the module the student should be able to:
a) Communicate appropriately with a person at the end of their life including addressing spirituality and ensuring personalisation of care;
b) Implement appropriate methods of intervention under the supervision of a Registered Practitioner.

Staff/student contact:  20% (lectures, workshops and tutorials)
Student directed learning: 60%
Work based learning: 20%
Total study time – 150 hours

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.