Palliative care
Welcome!
Welcome to your term on the Palliative Care Unit (PCU) We hope you enjoy your time on the unit and with the team. Palliative care is a unique specialty, and we hope you come to appreciate the intricacies and importance of this part of medical practice. No matter what specialty you decide to work in down the track, your experience in the palliative care unit will be helpful.
Most doctors find their time on PCU enjoyable and rewarding. However, we recognise that Palliative Care can at times be confronting and overwhelming, and we encourage you to speak with your term supervisor and debrief with staff on the ward.
Provision of palliative care through daily ward rounds and multidisciplinary collaboration for patients on the Palliative care Unit (PCU).
Learning outcomes will include:
· Understanding of the dying process and Quality of dying
· Appropriate prescribing at End of Life
· Opioid use including routes, use of equivalency tables, opioid rotation
· Communication skills around end of life care and goals of patient care
· Symptom assessment and management, in particular: Nausea, Pain, Shortness of Breath, Agitation and Terminal Restlessness
· Discharge planning for patients with palliative care and end-of-life care needs (including referral to and anticipatory prescribing for Community palliative care services)
For further logistical information see the Palliative care Unit Handbook