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ELNEC
Expands Reach to Improve Pediatric End-of-Life Care
Over
100 Pediatric Nurses Attend the First ELNEC Pediatric Palliative
Care Training
WASHINGTON,
D.C., August 20, 2003 – The End-of-Life Nursing Education
Consortium (ELNEC), a national initiative to improve end-of-life
care, held the first Pediatric Palliative Care Training on
August 14-16 in Pasadena, CA. This training was specifically
tailored to pediatric nurses who spend more time with children
and family members facing the end of life than any other member
of the health care team. Representing 34 states plus the District
of Columbia, over 100 pediatric nurses were selected to attend
this training, including nurse faculty, nurse practitioners,
clinical nurse specialists, staff development/educators, and
staff nurses.
“Studies
have shown that many nurses feel inadequately prepared to
provide the comprehensive care so important in pediatric palliative
care,” said Liz Sumner, BSN, RN, Executive Director of
the Children’s Program at San Diego Hospice & Palliative
Care and Project Director of the National Alliance for Children
with Life Threatening Conditions. “The ELNEC Pediatric
Palliative Care curriculum is an excellent resource for the
many nurses who are hungry for the best tools to teach and
promote improved care of children with life threatening conditions.”
Training
participants will now return to their local university, children’s
hospital, extended care facility or hospice/palliative care
centers and disseminate training content to their colleagues
so that excellent end-of-life care may be implemented on a
broader scale. Program content included topics such as pain
and symptom assessment and management; cultural considerations;
ethical/legal issues; communication; loss, grief and bereavement;
care at the time of death; and models of excellence in pediatric
palliative care.
Launched
in February 2000, ELNEC provides nurse educators with essential
training in end-of-life care and equips participants with
the knowledge and resources to share this new expertise with
nursing students and practicing nurses. Funded by a major
grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered
jointly by The City of Hope National Medical Center and the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing, ELNEC has trained
over 1,200 nurse educators representing all 50 states. Over
the next few years, project leaders estimate that ELNEC-trained
educators will touch the lives of 6 million patients and their
families facing the end of life.
City
of Hope National Medical Center is an innovative biomedical
research, treatment and educational institution located just
outside of Los Angeles. Designated a Comprehensive Cancer
Center by the National Cancer Institute, City of Hope is dedicated
to the prevention and cure of cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes,
and other life-threatening diseases. The Center’s philosophy
of Hope has inspired its health care experts to develop programs
that focus on treating the whole person—their emotional,
spiritual and social wellbeing—in addition to their physical
care. It is this combination of patient-centered care, state-of-the-art
treatment and groundbreaking research that has made City of
Hope a leader in the fight against devastating diseases.
The American Association
of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university
and four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing
more than 580 member schools of nursing at public and private
institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental
advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs
work to establish quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree
nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement
those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve
health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and
graduate nursing education, research, and practice.
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CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
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