Evaluating the impact of national education in pediatric palliative care: the Quality of Care Collaborative Australia

Abstract

Purpose: The Quality of Care Collaborative Australia (QuoCCA) provided pediatric palliative care education across Australia with the aim of improving the quality of services. The education was delivered through a collaboration of six tertiary pediatric palliative care services, through funding for Nurse Educators, Medical Fellows, a National Allied Health Educator, and national project staff.; Methods: Pre- and post-education surveys were completed by participants immediately following the education, and confidence and knowledge were measured along nine domains related to the care of the child and family, including managing a new referral, symptom management, medications, preparing the family, and using local agencies.; Results: Education was provided to over 5,500 health and human service professionals in 337 education sessions across Australia between May 2015 and June 2017. Paired pre- and post-surveys were completed by 969 participants and showed a significant improvement in all the domains measured. Those with no experience in caring for children receiving palliative care showed greater improvement following QuoCCA education compared to those with experience, although the latter had higher scores both before and after education. Similarly, those with no previous education showed greater improvement, but those with previous education showed higher scores overall. Participants in full-day and half-day sessions showed greater improvement than those in short day sessions. Thus, the dosage of education in the length of the sessions and prior attendance impacted knowledge and confidence. Topics requested by the participants were analyzed. Educator learnings were that education was more effective when tailored to the needs of the audience, was interactive, and included story-telling, case studies, and parent experiences.; Conclusion: These results encouraged the continuation of the provision of education to novice and experienced professionals who care for children with a life-limiting condition, leading to higher levels of confidence and knowledge. The learnings from this evaluation will be transferred into the second round of funding for the national QuoCCA education project. The next stage will focus on developing simulation and interactive training, accessible training modules, and videos on a national website.eCollection. Cited Medium: Print. NLM ISO Abbr: Adv Med Educ Pract. PubMed Central ID: PMC6298873. Linked References: J Contin Educ Nurs. 1999 Mar-Apr;30(2):84-7. (PMID: 10382461); J Adv Nurs. 2002 Dec;40(5):522-31. (PMID: 12437601); BMJ. 2003 Feb 15;326(7385):385-7. (PMID: 12586676); Accid Emerg Nurs. 2004 Jan;12(1):39-46. (PMID: 14700571); Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2005 Summer;21(3):380-5. (PMID: 16110718); J Pediatr Nurs. 2005 Oct;20(5):326-34. (PMID: 16182092); Nurs Health Sci. 2006 Jun;8(2):73-80. (PMID: 16764558); J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2007 Winter;27(1):6-15. (PMID: 17385735); J Contin Educ Nurs. 2008 Jun;39(6):281-8. (PMID: 18557287); J Assoc Physicians India. 2008 Jul;56:533-8. (PMID: 18846906); Palliat Med. 2009 Apr;23(3):228-37. (PMID: 19073783); Chest. 2009 Mar;135(3 Suppl):42S-48S. (PMID: 19265075); Am J Pharm Educ. 2010 Mar 10;74(2):22. (PMID: 20414435); Nurse Educ Today. 2011 Jul;31(5):472-6. (PMID: 20850915); Pediatrics. 2012 Apr;129(4):e923-9. (PMID: 22412035); Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed. 2013 Mar;98(2):F141-4. (PMID: 22684155); J Med Libr Assoc. 2012 Oct;100(4):258-69. (PMID: 23133325); J Palliat Med. 2014 Mar;17(3):288-95. (PMID: 24528125); Curr Opin Pediatr. 2015 Oct;27(5):555-62. (PMID: 26208236); Ger Med Sci. 2015 Sep 16;13:Doc15. (PMID: 26421003); BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2017 Mar;7(1):88-93. (PMID: 27316635); J Paediatr Child Health. 2016 Nov;52(11):979-982. (PMID: 27611924); BMC Palliat Care. 2017 Aug 17;16(1):42. (PMID: 28818069); Surgery. 2018 Apr 27;:. (PMID: 29709369); J Adv Nurs. 1994 Apr;19(4):640-6. (PMID: 8021383). Linking ISSN: 11797258. Subset: PubMed not MEDLINE; Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Dec 14. ; Original Imprints: Publication: Auckland, NZ : Dove Medical Press <br />