Serious Illness Care in Nursing Education

Author: Raeann LeBlanc, Susan Lysaght Hurley, Stephanie Chan, Constance Dahlin, et al.

Publication date: December 9, 2025

This article, led by Raeann LeBlanc and published in the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, describes the Massachusetts Nursing Task Force's (MNTF) approach to promoting the integration of primary palliative nursing competencies in nursing education across the state. This involved hosting an End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium train-the-trainer workshop for faculty and the development of a free, peer-reviewed online nursing resource library aligned with national competencies.

These approaches aimed to make enhanced education and training resources accessible throughout nursing education and clinical practice experiences. The MNTF's collaboration and outreach in Massachusetts serve as a model for implementing evidence-based practices and leveraging the expertise of palliative nurses that support clinical practice across a wide array of settings and levels of nursing education.

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Related Topics

Understanding primary palliative nursing education in undergraduate nursing programs

May 1, 2023

Nurses are the largest segment of health care professionals and often the first one to interact with individuals about their health and illness. Ensuring nurses have the education to care for individuals with serious illness is essential to quality health care. The new AACN Essentials: Competencies for Professional Nursing Education delineates hospice/palliative/supportive care as one of four spheres of nursing care. Surveying undergraduate schools/colleges of nursing in Massachusetts about content pertaining to care of individuals with serious illness provides the foundation for a state strategy to ensure quality primary palliative education for undergraduate nursing students. Read more in the Journal of Professional Nursing.

Highlights:

The AACN Essentials-Competencies for Professional Education now recognizes the specialty of palliative nursing.
Hospice/palliative/supportive care is one of four spheres of nursing education.
No national data exists on current undergraduate palliative nursing education to meet these competencies.
An undergraduate nursing survey guides state strategy for palliative nursing education and faculty support.
Collaborative efforts are essential to ensure quality undergraduate palliative nursing education.

Paving the way for universal medical student training in serious illness communication: the Massachusetts Medical Schools’ Collaborative

September 1, 2022

Sharing the origin story of our Massachusetts Medical Schools’ collaborative, this article outlines our journey towards standardizing training in serious illness communication for medical students across Massachusetts. This collaborative involves the state’s four medical schools and focuses on developing five core competencies, conducting curriculum mapping, and gathering student feedback through focus groups with the goal of ensuring all medical graduates are equipped with essential communication skills for palliative care.