Subscribe Blog Contact
The views and opinions expressed in our blog series are those of the authors and are not necessarily supported by CareSearch, Flinders University and/or the Australian Government Department of Health.
Many of us are unaware that Dementia is a terminal illness. It is currently the second leading cause of death overall in Australia. Kirsty Carr from Dementia Australia discusses three things you need to know about dementia and dying.
The WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network (WACPCN), WA Department of Health is committed to delivering quality and culturally respectful end-of-life and palliative care in Western Australia. This year the WACPCN released their WA End-of-Life and Palliative Care Strategy 2018-2028. Frances Arthur from the WA Department of Health discusses the importance and priorities of the strategy including insights from the community during consultation process, as well as the broad consultation undertaken during development to identify gaps, innovations and improvements.
When it comes to dying in an acute hospital, clinicians need some help and guidance to know how to care for vulnerable patients and what is needed at this point of their life. Maite Uribe from Southern Adelaide Palliative Care Service discusses caring for dying patients in an acute hospital setting, and three tips for getting it right.
About a third of Australian nurses work in rural and remote practice and many are sole practitioners working in geographically diverse and challenging areas. This requires nurses to have a diverse range of skills, professional and otherwise, including the need to provide quality palliative care. One of our biggest challenges is in being able to maintain those skills in their environment. Ann Aitken, Acting Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Services, discusses how the palliAGEDnurse and palliAGEDgp apps provide nurses and their medical colleagues a way to gain 24/7 offline palliative care information to help them in their practice.
Many health professionals would like to help patients with advance care planning. However, most of them need more training and support to improve their skills and confidence. Linda Nolte of Advance Care Planning Australia (ACPA) writes how their free online courses can help upskill and build the confidence of health professionals in this important area.