Palliative Care Nursing Programs offer specialized education for nurses aiming to provide comprehensive care to patients and families facing serious illnesses. These programs equip nurses with the essential knowledge and skills to manage complex physical, psychosocial, and spiritual needs across the lifespan. Through didactic coursework, hands-on simulations, and clinical practicums, nurses develop proficiency in symptom management, therapeutic communication, and collaborative care planning, all crucial for improving patient quality of life.
Curriculum Highlights of Palliative Care Nursing Specialty Courses
Our palliative care nursing specialty is structured to provide a robust and well-rounded education, ensuring graduates are prepared to excel in this demanding yet rewarding field. The curriculum is designed to build progressively, starting with foundational knowledge and advancing to complex clinical applications.
Foundations and Physical Aspects of Palliative Care
NUR 851: Foundations and Physical Aspects of Palliative Care (Spring Only) serves as the cornerstone course, delving into the core principles and philosophy of palliative care. Students will learn to thoroughly assess and effectively manage a wide array of physical symptoms commonly experienced by patients with serious illnesses. Emphasis is placed on developing strong communication skills to facilitate meaningful conversations with patients and their families, enabling collaborative development of patient-centered care goals. This course provides a framework for understanding the holistic needs of patients and their loved ones throughout the palliative care journey.
Psychosocial and Spiritual Dimensions of Palliative Care
NUR 853: Psychosocial Aspects of Palliative Care (Summer Only) expands on the foundational knowledge by focusing on the intricate psychosocial and spiritual dimensions of palliative care. This course cultivates the expertise needed to deliver comprehensive and culturally sensitive care. Nurses learn to respect and integrate the diverse psychosocial needs, spiritual beliefs, practices, traditions, and values of seriously ill individuals and their families across all stages of life and care settings. Understanding and addressing these non-physical aspects of care is paramount in providing truly holistic palliative support.
Advanced Practice Synthesis in Palliative Care Across the Lifespan
NUR 855: Advance Practice Nursing: Palliative Care Specialty Across the Lifespan Synthesis is the culminating course, designed to synthesize theoretical knowledge with advanced clinical management skills. This course prepares nurses to confidently care for patients requiring palliative care in various healthcare settings and across all age groups. A key focus is on implementing the palliative care nurse practitioner role within a collaborative practice model. Students will refine their ability to apply palliative care principles in complex clinical scenarios, ensuring they are ready to lead and contribute to interdisciplinary palliative care teams.
Enrollment Pathways for Palliative Care Nursing Specialty
We offer flexible enrollment options to accommodate various academic backgrounds and career stages for those interested in specializing in palliative care nursing programs.
For current students already enrolled in our nursing programs and seeking to add the palliative care specialty, the process is streamlined. Simply complete the Specialty Add or Delete form available on the Student Forms webpage. This form initiates an automated approval process involving your academic advisor and the Specialty Director, making it easy to integrate this specialization into your existing academic plan.
For nurse practitioners who already hold an MSN degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution, as well as nurse practitioner students from other accredited colleges or universities, we offer a Specialty Certificate in palliative care nursing. To pursue this certificate, please follow the dedicated instructions for the Specialty Certificate application. Enrollment decisions for the certificate program are made by the lead faculty of the specialty, contingent upon program capacity and applicant qualifications.
