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Assessing the educational needs of palliative care link nurses.

BACKGROUND
A key aspect of the provision of high-quality palliative care is ensuring that qualified staff have ongoing education in this area.


AIM
To explore the educational needs of palliative care link nurses.


METHOD
A quantitative approach was adopted, using a questionnaire distributed to all of the palliative care link nurses (n=80) in an integrated health and social care trust in one UK region.


FINDINGS
Participants demonstrated a clear commitment to and enthusiasm for their role. More than two thirds had already completed some form of palliative care training and considered themselves to already possess the necessary skills, confidence, and competence to be palliative care link nurses. However, this competence tended to relate more to skill-based elements and less towards practice issues.


CONCLUSIONS
Education for palliative care link nurses needs to incorporate strategies to develop competence and confidence in practice (knowing how) alongside skill-based learning (knowing that).