Palliative Care for Hospitalists and Intensivists (PCFHI)

Course Description

This intensive two-and-one-half-day course fills a significant gap for hospital-based specialists who seek training in palliative care, and provides these clinicians with the information and skills needed to offer high quality, specialist-level palliative care to inpatients with life-threatening illnesses. Hospitalists and intensivists will acquire a toolbox of key competencies required to deal with challenging end-of-life situations in the hospital.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Assess and manage the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual/existential causes of distress for hospitalized patients with life-threatening or serious illnesses and for their families.
• Describe and demonstrate practical strategies for: breaking bad news; discussing DNR, patient goals of care, and advance care planning; conducting family meetings; assessing depression; and exploring and addressing hopes and fears about the end of life.
• Integrate into clinical practices a palliative approach to: multiple common symptoms in advanced illness; diverse diseases (e.g., heart failure, pulmonary disease, dementia), challenging scenarios (e.g., withholding fluids and nutrition at the end of life, palliative sedation, “difficult” patients and families, talking with child ren about death), and key issues of safety and quality assurance in the hospital.

Who Should Attend?

Hospitalists and intensivists (MD, DO, NP, PA) and subspecialty clinicians or generalists with substantial inpatient practices (e.g., cardiologists, surgeons) who are interested in improving their palliative care skills.