The Fundamentals of Palliative Care is a series of learning packages designed for any health care worker – registered and non-registered staff – who are caring for people with a palliative care need.

It provides the learner with a broad overview of how to provide palliative care to people in their last days of life.

The programme is delivered via a blended model of learning, consisting of 5 online modules which include reflection exercises and 3 workshops.

The online modules consist of:

Essence of Palliative Care – This is a foundation module and is a pre-requisite to enrolling in further modules in the programme. It covers palliative care concepts and the culture of care.

The palliative care approach – 1 module covering communication, ethics, and spirituality

Managing pain and long-term illness – 2 modules covering pain, other symptoms, and pharmacology. Chronic illness and dementia

Care and support at the end of life – 1 module covering last days of life, grief, loss, and caring for ourselves.

These courses can be completed independently, with a certificate of completion available for each. To participate in a workshop, the online learning relevant to that workshop will need to be completed first. To complete the full Fundamentals of Palliative Care programme, participants are required to complete all on-line courses and attend all three workshops.

The workshops will be held at Hospice locations nationally.