Palliative care education board supports end of life patients PRIMARY CARE, COMMUNITY AND THERAPIES

Our priory 5 ward team at Sandwell have recently produced an education notice board to support colleagues, patients and their relatives at SWB.

The simple yet innovative idea was the brainchild of Jenny Oldershaw, Staff Nurse who works on priory 5 at Sandwell Hospital.

“I felt the need to create a palliative information board to be used by staff as a quick reference tool as well as a reminder for key information patients need to be aware of which can often be overlooked,” said Jenny.

“Discharging our end of life patients from the ward area can occasionally be a time consuming process. We need to make sure we are referring our patients to the correct services to ensure all the right support is in place at home. This is especially challenging for those patients who are not from the borough or do not know the local area well.”

Part of the makeup of the education board is that it hosts a list of useful phone numbers and email addresses of relevant discharge nurses, equipment stores and out of area palliative care services to use as a quick reference when discharging.

Another key feature on the board is the inclusion of laminated instructions on the use of our syringe driver infusion sets just as a quick refresh if colleagues feel they need to familiarise themselves with this, as well as details around reduced car parking costs for those visiting end of life patients. The board is versatile and can be easily updated in case information and resources change.

Jenny feels that giving these kinds of details to relatives is hugely beneficial.

“I believe it is vital that we share important and empowering information with the loved ones of those who are at the end of life, as this helps give just that little bit more reassurance at a scary and difficult time and makes their visit a little easier.”

She added: “End of life care should help you to live as well as possible until you die and to die with dignity.

“We have only one chance to get the care of our end of life patients right and I hope the information on this board will help us achieve this goal.”

Do you have any ideas or suggestions for the palliative care education board on priory 5? If so, please email jenny.oldershaw@nhs.net