Course Code: REL-PAC-ELNEC-CMETHPALN
Hours: 1.5
Type: Online Course
Content Expiration Date: 12/31/2029
Learning Objectives:
Identify ethical issues and dilemmas that may arise in palliative and end-of-life care.
Review the process of advance care planning and its role in preventing ethical dilemmas.
Apply ethical principles utilized in addressing palliative and end-of-life care dilemmas, including models for case analysis and the use of ethics committees.
Outline:
Section 1: Back to the Basics
Recognizing Ethical Dilemmas
Ethics in Palliative Care
Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care
Nursing Standards of Practice
Ethical Principles Grounding Healthcare and Palliative Care
Four Main Ethical Principles
Four Other Important Principles
Resolving Ethical Concerns Through Organizational Ethics
Method One: Ethics Consultation
Method Two: Ethics Committee
Consider This
Review
Key Takeaways
Section 2: Ethical Issues in Palliative Care
Specific Ethical Considerations in Palliative Nursing
Nurses’ Roles in Care at the End of Life
Life Sustaining Treatment (LST)
Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Orders
Forgoing, Withholding, Discontinuing, or Withdrawing Treatments
Medically Administered Nutrition and Hydration
Palliative Sedation
Medical Aid in Dying
Other Ethical Issues
Nurse Communication of Goals of Care
Ethical Communication
Shared Decision-Making
Laws, Acts, and Documents
Advance Care Planning
Legal Decision-Makers
POLST
Supporting Patients in Their Healthcare Decisions
Informed Consent
Decision-Making Capacity
Marginalized Populations with Serious Illness and Ethical Concerns
Patients with Dementia/Mental Illness
Patients with Developmental Disabilities
Individuals Who Are Incarcerated
Talking About Treatment Options
Case Study #1
Review
Key Takeaways
Section 3: Addressing Ethical Issues
Preventive Ethics
Facilitating Ethical and Legal Practice
Clinical Indications
Patient Preferences
Quality of Life
Contextual Features
Case Study #2
Case Study #3
Case Study #4
Common Fears and Pitfalls in Ethics
Fears
Difficult Situations
Review
Clinical Indications
Patient Preferences
Quality of Life
Contextual Features
Key Takeaways
Section 4: Conclusion
Course Summary
Course Information
Course Contributors
Resources
Education
Resource Documents
References
Subject Matter Expert: 2026 ELNEC Core Series
The content for this course was written by The ELNEC Project Team.
The ELNEC Project, which began in 2000, is a collaboration between City of Hope, Duarte, CA and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), Washington, DC. For more information about ELNEC, go to www.aacnnursing.org/ELNEC
The content for this course was revised by Constance Dahlin, MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN®, FPCN, FAAN.
Constance Dahlin has focused her career within hospice and palliative care. Connie serves as national faculty for the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC). She has practiced palliative care across the health continuum: home, clinic, long-term care, rehabilitation, and acute care settings. She has administered hospice, home health, and palliative care programs. She has created education for program development, academic curricula, and interprofessional team education.
Currently, Ms. Dahlin is a palliative nurse practitioner at MGB Salem Hospital. She is faculty at University of Maryland Baltimore PhD, MS, and Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care. She is a consultant and senior nurse advisor to the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) with a focus on community-based care and education. She is co-director of the Palliative APP Externship at the Medical University of South Carolina. She serves on the American Hospital Association Circle of Life Award Committee, the Massachusetts Network for Community-Based Care, and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Cancer Steering Committee.
Ms. Dahlin has authored many peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and curricula. She has presented nationally and internationally. Ms. Dahlin is co-editor of the Oxford University Press Advanced Practice Palliative Nursing 1st and 2nd editions. She edited and authored four editions of the Palliative Nursing: Scope and Standards and three editions of the Competencies for the Palliative and Hospice RN, and APRN. She wrote the Hospice and Palliative APRN Professional Practice Guide and A Primer of Reimbursement, Billing, and Coding: Essential Information for the Hospice and Palliative APRN. She referenced the 2004 first education of the National Consensus Project’s Clinical Practice Guidelines for Palliative Care and edited the 2009 and 2013 editions.
Ms. Dahlin is a Fellow of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, a 2005 Certified ACHPN APRN of the year, a 2016 Sojourns Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Leadership Scholar Award Recipient, a 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Visionary in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, the 2020 Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association Distinguished Practice Award and the 2021 University of Maryland Baltimore Program in Palliative Care Teacher of the Year. She completed her MSN in oncology nursing and her post-masters in adult primary care at the MGH Institute of Health Professions.
Target Audience:
The target audience for this course is: Advanced Practice Nurses; Nursing Personnel; in the following settings: Hospice.
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To earn continuing education credit for this course you must achieve a passing score of 80% on the post-test and complete the course evaluation.
Course Delivery Method and Format
Asynchronous Distance Learning with interactivity which includes quizzes with questions/answers, and posttests.