Palliative and End of Life Care
Program Description
This subspecialty is designed to prepare advanced practice nurses to provide informed and compassionate palliative and end of life care to patient and families across the lifespan and in a variety of settings.
Students completing this Subspecialty will:
- Recognize dynamic changes in population demographics, health care economics and services delivery that necessitate improvements in palliative and end of life care.
- Explore attitudes, feelings, values, and expectations about death and grief and the individual, cultural, and spiritual diversity existing in beliefs and traditions.
- Promote the provision of palliative and end of life care to the dying as active, desirable, and an integral component of care.
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary team members while implementing the nursing role in palliative and end of life care.
- Explore the experience of suffering, grief, loss, and bereavement for the patient and family.
- Communicate effectively and sensitively with the patient, family, and health care team about palliative and end of life issues.
- Understand legal and ethical principles in the analysis of complex issues and end of life car, recognizing the influence of personal values and professional codes.
- Assess multiple dimensions including physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs to improve quality at end of life.
- Demonstrate skill in the development of a plan for improved palliative and end of life care within a health care delivery system or in a community.
- Apply knowledge gained from palliative and end of life care research to education and care.
The Program Directors of the Palliative and End of Life Care Nurse Practitioner sub-specialty are Penelope Buschman and Anita Nirenberg.
Curriculum
| Courses | Credits |
| Introduction to Palliative and End of Life Care throughout the Lifespan | 3 |
| Clinical Issues in Palliative and End of Life Care | 3 |
| Clinical Management of the Patient and Family | 3 |
| Total Credits | 9 |
Introduction to Palliative and End of Life Care throughout the Lifespan
Credits: 3
This introductory course will provide a foundation for the understanding of palliative and end of life care. Participants will explore their own attitudes, feelings, values and beliefs about death and grief as they assess multiple dimensions of care including physical, psychological, and social and spiritual aspects.
Clinical Issues in Palliative Care and End of Life Care Throughout the Lifespan
Credits: 3
In lecture and seminar format, participants will focus on aspects of advanced practice in palliative and end of life care, including symptom management, pain control, and therapeutic communication skills.
Clinical Management of the Patients and Family
Credits: 3
This clinical practice course is designed for student participants to develop skills in palliative and end of life care of
patients and families. Emphasis will be on collaborative and inter-disciplinary practice. Student will be mentored and
supervised by faculty in a variety of clinical and home care settings.
School of Nursing
The School of Nursing has paved the way for professional nursing since 1892 and continues to lead the field as the foremost institution for advanced practice nursing.
The School of Nursing is a designated World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing Development in Advanced Practice. With urban clinical sites, expert faculty practitioners, cutting edge research, and the strength of the Columbia name and reputation, the School of Nursing produces graduates who possess the skills necessary to bring advanced practice nursing into the new millennium. As medical advances offer a cascade of new and useful therapies, the need for more health care providers will increase exponentially. Our country will face many health care challenges in the next 20 years, and nurse practitioners are essential to providing access to quality primary care.
Founded in 1892 as Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, the School became part of the University in 1937 and began offering the baccalaureate degree. It is one of the oldest schools of nursing in the US . In 1956, it became the first nursing program in the country to award a master's degree in a clinical nursing specialty. In 1999, the School granted its first doctoral degree. More than 9,000 nurses have graduated since the School opened.
The School is part of the Columbia University Medical Center, along with the Mailman School of Public Health, the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Each of these schools adds to the richness and diversity of the educational experience of students and faculty.
School of Nursing faculty have substantial experience in curriculum, instructional design, and research. They maintain expertise in their areas of teaching responsibility through participation at local, regional, and national conferences, involvement in scholarly presentations and publications, and faculty practice.
Columbia University School of Nursing is distinguished by the clinical excellence of its programs and graduates. Whether in the first degree program preparing nurses at the accelerated baccalaureate level.
The above information is current as of 1/07 and is subject to change at any time.