Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to implement palliative care communication education into medical residents’ ICU rotations.|Background: Approximately 540,000, or over 20%, of patient deaths in the United States occur within the ICU, and up to 30% die within 12 months of their discharge from an ICU (Angus et al., 2004). It is estimated that 6,000-18,000 additional palliative care (PC) specialists are needed to meet current inpatient PC demands alone (Kelley & Morrison, 2015). By properly training/educating clinicians already in the ICUs regarding primary palliative care skills, this growing issue will be addressed.|Sample/Setting: This study took place at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE. Participants included residents assigned to the Critical Care White (CCMW) service over a three-month time period between August-October 2018. The sample consisted of the residents who anonymously volunteered to participate.|Methods: In this quality improvement study participants were surveyed before and after an educational intervention. The training focused on palliative care communication skills. The efficacy of the educational medium was assessed.|Results: Fourteen residents were assigned to the CCMW service over the 3 months. Nine out of the 14 residents (64%), participated in the pre-intervention survey. Four of these participated in the intervention and completed the post-intervention survey. Of the 12 questions assessing residents’ palliative care communication skills, 8 questions showed statistically significant increases after the educational intervention.|Conclusion: There is a need for better utilization of palliative care in the ICU. This study found that residents are uncomfortable administering primary palliative care on their own. Therefore, more attention must be directed at providing palliative care educational interventions to residents in the ICU. However, more research is needed to determine the most beneficial styles of educational interventions.