Hospice & Palliative Care Education for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses: Are More Programs Needed?

Palliative care seeks to relieve suffering and promote quality of life for patients and their families regardless of the stage of the disease or the need for other therapies. Although many schools of nursing have initiated advanced training programs in hospice and palliative care, there has been limited research into the type of programs and content for these programs within the Advanced Practice Nursing community. The purpose of this study was to determine Advance Practice Nurses' perception of the need for an Advanced Practice Education in Hospice Palliative Care program, the preferred method of educational delivery, and the desired program content. One hundred nineteen respondents completed the 20-item online survey. Results show the majority of respondents (90%) perceive the need for a palliative care education program with 36% interested in taking the course now and 44% interested in taking it at a later time. Most respondents preferred the course to be offered online (32%) or as a hybrid course (54%). Findings of the study support the development of an online or hybrid, across the lifespan, palliative care program for advanced practice nurses that includes multidisciplinary content and clinical practicum hours.