University Clinical Center Maribor
Slovenia
Project EDU-EOL: Education of meDical professionals in UCC Maribor on End-Of-Life care in 2020 using an established palliative care curriculum
Background
In University Clinical Centre Maribor (UCC) palliative care is not part of standard treatment for every patient with advanced, incurable cancer. Most physicians and nurses did not receive any formal training during their undergraduate or postgraduate training. The most pressing is the issue of patients in need of end-of-life care, whom are commonly subjected to aggressive care (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, unnecessary diagnostic procedures) which does not benefit the patient nor the institution.
Aim
The aim of the project is to improve the knowledge and perception on end-of-life care by health-care professionals currently treating patients with advanced cancer through a series of courses taking place on different departments in the UCC.
Methods / process
4 hour educational sessions titled »Last days of life« will be held 1x/week, 2 weeks in a row on each department. Participants will be required to fill-out a pre- and post-test to assess the change in knowledge gained. Additionally the participants will be asked to evaluate the quality of course and express their attitude toward further education on palliative care.
Intended output / impact:
The primary goal of the project is to educate health-care professionals on end-of-life care in patients dying of incurable cancer. We plan to educate 25% of doctors and 33% of nurses employed on 6 departments in the UCC through 12 educational sessions held on their respective departments in a 6- month time-frame in 2020.
The secondary goal is to identify motivated health-care professional interested in expanding their knowledge in palliative care and offer them access to additional educational events.