Table 1 The link-nurse programme
From: A palliative care link nurse programme in Mulago Hospital, Uganda: an evaluation using mixed methods
Aims of the link-nurse programme | • Improving palliative care provision within the Hospital. • Improving links between the specialist unit and the wards. • Equipping nurses from different units with knowledge and skills that will enable them to provide basic palliative care to their patients. |
Components of the link-nurse programme | • The identification of nurses to be trained as link-nurses - with the help of the in-charges of the wards and the senior nursing management, link-nurses were selected from wards where there are a high proportion of patients in need of palliative care and individuals in senior clinical roles, who showed an interest in palliative care. • Training of the nurses in palliative care using an adapted 5 day training developed by MPCU and based on the palliative care toolkit [39] and training manual [40]. Nurses attended an initial 3-day training, followed by mentorship and support supervision on the wards by the link-nurse co-ordinator and a further 2-day training three months after the initial training. The training was based on an interactive format and involved lectures, case discussions, group work and role-play. • Provision of ongoing mentorship and support. • Implementation of the use of clinical guidelines developed by MPCU - for the second cohort the clinical protocols also formed a core part of the training, • Implementation of a ‘categorisation’ system to enable the MPCU team and the link-nurses to identify patients who can be supported by the link-nurses and those that need referral to the palliative care team. • Recording of basic information about the patients for whom the link-nurses provide palliative care. • Evaluation and improvement of the programme. |