Aim: To increase the knowledge and skills of health professionals providing care to neonates and their families with life limiting conditions complicated by their complexity and uncertain prognosis.
Method: The Quality of Care Collaborative Australia (QuoCCA) project education activities have been made possible through funding provided by the Department of Health, Australia through the National Palliative Care Projects initiative, (2014-2017; 2017-2020; 2020-2023). The aim of the project is to improve the quality of national paediatric palliative care in acute and community settings, achieved through education and research. The education programs aim to improve the knowledge and skills of health professionals caring for children with life limiting conditions in rural, regional and remote areas within Australia. Data collated found that Nurses working with neonates reported limited education specific to palliative care. The neonatal palliative care workshops delivered programs to multi-disciplinary groups that included group discussions for challenging case studies, ethics and decision making, communicating with families and bereavement
Results: In the past year, the QuoCCA team have expanded their paediatric education as a result of demand for education about neonatal palliative care from nurses and midwives working with neonates in health care services. The results reported increased confidence in all domains surveyed associated with delivering palliative care in neonatal units.
Conclusion: The project has resulted in improved confidence levels of health care professionals caring for children and their families in neonatal units. The education model has the potential to be delivered nationally to improve the delivery of palliative care to neonates and their families.