Evaluation of ELNEC
Faculty Training Program Shows Growing National Commitment
to Strengthening Nursing Care
Over 19,000 Nursing
Students from 460 Institutions Have Received ELNEC Training
WASHINGTON, D.C., February 28, 2005 –
The End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC),
a national initiative to improve end-of-life care (EOL),
has just published data in the January 2005 issue of the
Journal of Palliative Medicine which shows widespread
dissemination and adoption of best practices related to
EOL nursing care. These data were collected from five
training courses developed to enhance expertise in nursing
faculty teaching in undergraduate and continuing education
programs. Over a 12-month period, 502 faculty members
representing 460 different nursing programs from all 50
states, the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, and
Puerto Rico received ELNEC training and shared this new
knowledge with students and colleagues in a variety of
educational settings.
The results from the 12-month data showed
significant improvement in disseminating EOL content.
Participants reported that after attending the ELNEC course,
they were able to devote more time to teaching EOL issues
(18.59 hours pre-course compared to a post-course mean
of 28.72 hours). Understanding the constraints on faculty
and crowded nursing school curriculum, this change was
notable in that changes occurred within the first 12 months
of course attendance. Because of an increase in EOL curriculum
content, participants rated the effectiveness of new graduates
in providing EOL care as higher than in their pre-course
rating and mastery improvements were significant after
students studied the ELNEC modules. In addition, ELNEC-trained
faculty used this curriculum to teach outside of their
own nursing program (49%); attended other conferences
on palliative care (46%); and began subscribing personally
to EOL publications and journals (43%).
"ELNEC has personally and professionally
broadened my thinking and approach to end-of-life and
palliative care,” said Carol Long, PhD, RN, faculty
from Arizona State University. “The necessity of
providing baseline EOL knowledge is essential for students
and practicing nurses alike in all settings so that we
have at least the beginning approaches to patient care.
This program has reaffirmed my commitment to improving
standards for EOL care for patients wherever they are
in the continuum of care."
Because of the extraordinary demand for
ELNEC courses and the overall success of the program,
project leaders are renewing efforts to reach pediatric
palliative care nurses, oncology nurses and graduate nursing
faculty, as well as continuing education providers at
hospitals, hospices, and long-term care facilities. At
this point, only one third of the nation’s undergraduate
nursing programs have attended an ELNEC course. Reaching
the other undergraduate nursing schools and maintaining
each participating school’s strong commitment to
EOL care education are future goals of the ELNEC project.
“The ELNEC project is crucial to providing
up-to-date EOL nursing content which translates into excellent
care to patients and their families,” said Betty
Ferrell, PhD, RN, FAAN, principal investigator of the
ELNEC Project. “Over the next few years, we estimate
that ELNEC-trained educators will touch the lives of 6
million patients and their families facing the end of
life.”
These ELNEC courses were 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 also received support from the National Cancer Institute.
Since it was launched in February 2000, ELNEC has trained
over 2,000 nurse educators representing all 50 states.
For more information on this project, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/ELNEC.
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. Web site: http://www.cityofhope.org
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. Web site: http://www.aacn.nche.edu
CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
