Understanding primary palliative nursing education in undergraduate nursing programs

Author: Constance Dahlin, Susan DeSanto-Madeya, Susan Lysaght Hurley, Stephanie H. Chan, Olivia Wood, Anne-Marie Barron, Priscilla K. Gazarian

Publication date: 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.

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