Interprofessional palliative care training at UC San Francisco (UCSF) just received a huge boost.
The proposal “Establishing an Interprofessional Palliative Care Continuing Education Program” received UCSF Campus Strategic Initiative Funds as part of the 2016-17 cycle. Developed by Associate Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing Department of Physiological Nursing DorAnne Donesky, RN, PhD, NP and Associate Professor in the UCSF Division of Hospital Medicine and Palliative Care Program Wendy Anderson, MD, the proposal will create an interprofessional palliative care continuing education program through the UCSF School of Nursing that is tailored to the needs of working professionals.
Based on their successful Minor in Palliative Care within the School of Nursing, which graduates its second cohort of nurses in spring 2016, Donesky and Anderson have already piloted the offering of interprofessional palliative care courses to professionals practicing within UCSF Health and other health systems. The new funding will help accomplish strategic program and curricular expansion and advance education efforts emerging from the UCSF Health Palliative Care Strategic planning process. These include the addition of leaders representing social work, spiritual care, and pharmacy.
The Directors Donesky and Anderson are national leaders in palliative care education, and have designed and implemented multiple programs including a University of California-wide educational effort focused on integrating palliative care into the ICU by training and supporting bedside nurses at UC Medical Centers (IMPACT-ICU). In addition, the Palliative Care Education Program has an established and expert advisory council, which will ensure that the highest quality program is developed, and that it meets the needs of UCSF Health. Council Members include:
- Patricia M. Davidson, RN, MEd, PhD—Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
- Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA—Principal Investigator of the “End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC)” project and Director in the Division of Nursing Research and Education at the City of Hope
- Steven Pantilat, MD—Director of the UCSF Palliative Care Program and leader of the Continuity of Care for the Seriously Ill Strategic Planning Process for UCSF Health
- Kathleen Puntillo, RN, PhD—Professor Emeritus and national expert in palliative care
- Christine Ritchie, MD MSPH—President of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and UCSF Office of Population Health Medical Director of Clinical Programs
- Mike Rabow, MD—Internest, General Internal Medicine Clinic at Mount Zion
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