Education and training of clinicians includes:
- the acute health service’s commitment, at orientation, to ongoing education in end of life and palliative care for all clinicians
- orientation to mortality and morbidity review processes, with a focus on end of life care
- identification of patients in their last 12 months of life or less
- identification and review of goals of care
- communication skills
- advance care planning
- escalation process for staff who have concerns about the a patient's end of life care
- ethical and legal issues related to end of life care
- managing the distress of patients, their families, and carers
- self-care and care for other health professionals
- appropriate prescribing and de-prescribing, based on prognosis and the ‘burden or harm versus benefit’
- cultural competence, for example, relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LBGTI) community
- skilled clinicians modelling good practice and mentoring staff.
Training methods might include face-to-face and online techniques, reflective learning, case studies, death reviews and supervised clinical practice.
Health services should ensure appropriate education and training through means including:
Education of all new staff, particularly rotating junior medical staff, honorary medical officers, and visiting medical officers (general practitioners), occurs:
- at orientation
- through the annual review of scope of practice
- during accreditation.