End-of-course of further training “Palliative care for nurses”

It was most certainly a particular experience, occasionally coupled with some nervousness, when the participants of the basic course “Palliative care for Nurses” presented their contributions to the so-called colloquium. Those were impressing projects, indeed, from the respective practice and along different pathways such as oral care or treatment of itching but also a good-bye ceremony and fairy tales, which were presented by the participants.

This “final stone” in the professional training had been preceded by four weeks of intensive learning spread over nine months. 17 participants had enrolled, had started in February 2017 and had successfully concluded the course after 200 hours and much to the joy of the instructors.

Coming from different fields of nursing (in-patient care for the elderly, out-patient nursing, in-patient hospices, palliative wards), the group excelled from the beginning in their interest and their getting along together well. Once more, the inviting set-up of the house in Rudolfstraße had a beneficial effect on the successful realization of the course. Its rooms make it easy to concentrate on the work, the view over and a walk in the garden are pleasant, and the offer of a common lunch promotes companionship and mutual exchange.

In the centre of such a course there is always the imparting of attitudes, skills, and knowledge on the field of palliative care. The subjects range from oral care, observance of pain, and symptomatic treatment to communication, spirituality, ethics, and law. A great addition are supplementary visitations such as guided tours in hospices and institutions of palliative care or visits to religious places like the mosque and the synagogue in Münster or the visitation of an undertaker.

For the course leaders it was encouraging to see that the idea of palliative care finds its way with such a commitment into nursing practice, not least into those institutions which have to get along with few personal and small financial resources.