Like many areas in health, palliative care has many acronyms and abbreviations that can be confusing. Knowing what these initials mean can be illuminating.
A
ABS – Australian Bureau of Statistics
ACAT – Aged Care Assessment Team
ACCRM – Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
ACD – Advance Care Directive
ACN – Australian College of Nursing
ACP – Advance Care Planning or Advance Care Plan
ACPA – Advance Care Planning Australia
ACCRM – Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine
ACSQHC – Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
ADL – Activities of Daily Living
AHHA – Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association
AHPA – Allied Health Professions Australia
AHPRA – Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
AHW – Aboriginal Health Worker
AIHW – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
AKPS – Australian Karnofsky Performance Status
AMA – Australian Medical Association
ANF – Australian Nursing Federation
AN_ACC – Australian National Aged Care Classification
AN-SNAP – Australian National Subacute and Non-Acute Patient (AN-SNAP)
ANZPPCRG – Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Palliative Care Reference Group
ANZSPM – Australian and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine
APHN – Asia Pacific Hospice and Palliative Care Association
APNA – Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association
ARC – Australian Research Council
B
BMI – Body mass Index
C
CALD – Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
CAM – Complementary and Alternative Medicines
CAPC – Center to Advance Palliative Care
CATSINaM – Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives
CHF – Consumer Health Forum
CINAHL – Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature
COAG – Council of Australian Governments
COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
CoP – Community of Practice
CPCRE – Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education
CPD – Continuing Professional Development
CPR – Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
CRANA – Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia
CRANAplus – Peak Professional Body for the Remote and Isolated Health Workforce
D
DoHDA – Department of Health Disability and Ageing
DVA – Department of Veterans’ Affairs
E
EAPC – European Association of Palliative Care
EBM – Evidence-Based Medicine
EBP – Evidence-Based Practice
EBPC – Evidence-Based Palliative Care
ED – Emergency Department
EdCAN – National Cancer Nursing Education Project
ELDAC – End of life Directions for Aged Care
EN – Enrolled Nurse
EoL – End of Life
EoLCP – End-of-Life Care Plan
ESAS – Edmonton Symptom Assessment System
eviQ – eviQ Cancer Treatments Online
F
FECCA – Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia
G
GP – General Practitioner
GPN – General Practice Nurses
H
HRQoL – Health-related quality of life
I
IADL – Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
IAHPC – International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care
IASP – International Association for the Study of Pain
ICD – International Classification of Diseases
IMG – International Medical Graduate
IPL – Interprofessional Learning (IPL)
IPOS – International Psycho-Oncology Society
IPP-SHR -International Program of Psycho-Social Health
IT – Information Technology
J
K
L
LGBTI – Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex
LOS – Length of Stay
M
MBS – Medicare Benefits Schedule
MeSH – Medical Subject Heading
MJA – Medical Journal of Australia
MND – Motor Neurone Disease
MOOC – Massive Open Online Courses
MS – Multiple Sclerosis
MSOAP – Medical Specialists Outreach Assistance Program
N
NACCHO – National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
NAT-C – Needs Assessment Tool for Carers
NAT:PD-C – Needs Assessment Tool: Progressive Disease – Cancer
NATSIPCA – National Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander Palliative Care Association
NHMRC – National Health and Medical Research Council
NHPCO – National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (US)
NHS – National Health Service (UK)
NICE – The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
NICS – National Institute of Clinical Studies
NP – Nurse Practitioner
NPS – National Prescribing Service
NSAP – National Standards Assessment Program
O
OT – Occupational Therapist
P
PaCCSC – Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative
PBS – Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
PCA – Palliative Care Australia
PCNA – Palliative Care Nurses Australia
PCC4U – Palliative Care Curriculum for Undergraduates
PCOC – Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration
PDSA – Plan Do Study Act
PEPA – Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach
PICO – Population Intervention Comparison Outcomes
PoCoG – Psycho-Oncology Cooperative Research Group
Q
QALY – Quality-Adjusted Life Year
QI – Quality Improvement
QoL – Quality of Life
QuoCCA – Quality of Care Collaborative for Australia in Paediatric Palliative Care
QUM – Quality Use of Medicines
R
RAC – Residential Aged Care
RACGP – Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
RCNA – Royal College of Nursing Australia
RCT – Randomised Controlled Trial
RePaDD – Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying
RRIPM – Rural and Remote Institute of Palliative Medicine
RN – Registered Nurse
S
SAS – Symptom Assessment Scale
SDM – Substitute Decision-Maker
SF-36 – 36-Item Short Form Health Survey
SMMSE – Standardised Mini-Mental State Examination
SNAP – Sub-acute, Non-acute and Palliative care
T
TEL – Talking End of Life – with people with intellectual disability
TGA – Therapeutic Goods Administration
U
V
W
WHO – World Health Organization
WPCA – Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance
X
Y
Z
Last updated 25 June 2026