Increasing Knowledge and Comfort Levels of ICU Nurses in Goals of Care Discussions Through Palliative Care Education

Critical care nurses are tasked with treating patients during the most complex times, typically beginning with aggressive treatment measures and in many cases, transitioning to end-of-life care. According to the literature review, critical care nurses report they frequently provide care that they feel is futile and palliative care resources are underutilized in the intensive care unit. They also report limited education/training and comfort in understanding their role in goals of care conversations and end-of-life care despite their vital role in providing direct patient care. The goal of this project was to implement an education program using the IMPACT-ICU toolkit to ultimately increase intensive care nurses’ knowledge, comfortability, and involvement in goals of care discussions. All critical care nurses (n=25) on a neuroscience intensive care unit at a local community hospital were given a pre-and post-intervention survey to voluntarily complete. As well, all were required to complete the required education webinar via AACN consisting of information from the IMPACT-ICU toolkit. Results of the completed surveys revealed the educational intervention was effective in educating the bedside intensive care nurse role on identifying their role in prognosis, goals of care, and palliative care discussions. Overall, critical care nurses in the target community reported an increase in their ability to identify their role in prognosis, goals of care, and palliative care discussions