Preparation for practice in Palliative Care Nursing across the EU
Background
The original EAPC Nursing Task Force concluded its work in 2004 with the publication of a set of guidelines in relation to palliative nurse education and preparation for practice. No evaluation of its impact or effectiveness was undertaken. Now 10 years after that publication and utilising the framework of the published EAPC Atlas it is proposed to determine the degree of uptake of the original guideline across the EU, identify the barriers and facilitators to the implementation of the guideline and revise in line with international trends in relation to competencies for practice.
Aims & objectives
- To assess the impact and uptake of the 2004 EAPC document for the development of palliative nursing practice.
- To revise and present an updated version of the document relative to international competency frameworks
Membership

Sandra Martins Pereira
Chair
Institute of Bioethics
Catholic University of Portugal

Anneke Francke
Co-Chair
VU University Medical Center
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Steering Committee
International Advisory Group to comment on the revised document:
Despina Anagnostou, Greece
Maria Arantzamedi Solabarrieta, Spain
Manuel Luís Capelas, Portugal
Michael Connolly, Ireland
Ria de Korte, Netherlands
Pablo Hernández-Marrero, Spain
Norbert Krumm, Germany
Phil Larkin, Switzerland
Nicoleta Mitrea, Romania
Roeline Pasman, Netherlands
Esther Schmidlin, Switzerland
Collaborators:
Patricia Coelho, Portugal
Martin Loucka, Czech Republic
Minna Hökkä, Finland
Advisory Committee
Ana Carvajal, Spain
Tine de Vlieger, Belgium
Betty Ferrell, USA
Peter Hudson, Australia
Christine Ingleton, UK
Anna Salas-Santos, Canada
Partners
- All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care
- Ordem dos Enfermeiros (Portugal) www.ordemenfermeiros.pt
- Ordem dos Enfermeiros – Secção Regional da Região Autónoma dos Açores (Portugal)
- Associação Portuguesa de Cuidados Paliativos www.apcp.com.pt
- Dutch Palliative Nursing Association
- Consejo General de Enfermeria de Espana
- International Council of Nurses
Background
In 2004, an EAPC task force on palliative nurse education presented a set of guidelines for the preparation of nurses for practice in palliative care and subsequently published ( De Vlieger et al, 2004). The document considered the academic and clinical preparation of nurses based on the then agreed Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 framework, from generalist to specialist. In addition, indicators of capacity to practice were given based on the level of educational attainment based on clinical tasks. Versions of the document were translated into French, Spanish and Portuguese and is currently available on the EAPC website.
Although at the time, there was an indication that the document was useful, no systematic evidence of its impact or dispersion through the EU was undertaken and evidence for its use is anaecdotal. In the last 10 years since its publication, there have been considerable national and international developments in relation to education, not only by EAPC, but by member associations, and academic providers. Task forces on Medical Education, Social Work, Psychology and Spiritual Care have all looked to address training and education needs but a gap remains in this from a nursing perspective ( possibly the largest professional group providing palliative care ) at this time. Nurses in some countries are increasingly exposed to higher education options and professional development roles such as clinical nurse specialist. The idea of competency-based assessment of skills and aptitudes in relation to palliative care nursing has also become more evident since the original work was undertaken.
This project is designed to gain a better understanding of the impact of the original 2004 guideline document for palliative care nursing in Europe Linked in to the work of the EAPC Atlas, a survey of member associations will be undertaken with a focus on evidence and examples of use, faciliators and barriers to its use at that time and current perceived needs in palliative nursing education.
It is then proposed to revise the 2004 document to bring this into line with contemporary national and international development in palliative care nursing.
A steering committee will lead the project, supported by Task Force team members representing EU palliative nursing practitioners and educators. An International Advisory Group will be convened to comment on drafts of the revised document in light of their own national development and international lens on nursing practice and education.
This project will contribute to the work of the education stream of EAPC work and help to clarify the landscape for education and training for nurses to inform future initiatives for member associations and EAPC itself.
Timelines
Validation of country reports: new date – April 2019 (completed)
Article/final report preparation: new date – December 2019
Feedback Steering and Advisory Groups: – January 2020
Final revisions and submission to journal (Palliative Medicine) – January 2020
Date | Action | Milestone (complete) | Reports |
2014 Sept | Project commencement | ||
2014 Oct | Development of an online survey | July 2015 | |
Interim Report to EAPC 1 | Apr 2015 | ||
May 2015 | Closed meeting at the 14th World Congress of the EAPC in Copenhagen | ||
Summer 2015 | Contacts via national associations and representatives to identify participants for the survey | Autumn 2015 | |
Interim Report to EAPC 2 | Oct 2015 | ||
Jan 2016 | Online survey testing Online survey | January 2016 June 2016 | |
Interim report to EAPC 3 | April 2016 | ||
June 2016 | Closed meeting at the 9th World Research Congress of the EAPC in Dublin | June 2016 | |
Interim Report to EAPC 4 | October 2016 | ||
Autumn/winter 2016 | Analysis of survey | Spring 2017 | |
Interim Report to EAPC 5 | Interim Report to EAPC 5 | April 2017 | |
May 2017 | Closed and open meetings at the EAPC Congress 2017 in Madrid | May 2017 | |
Interim Report to EAPC 6 | October 2017 | ||
Spring/Summer 2018 | Country-level analysis of the survey | September 2018 | |
Interim report to EAPC 7 | April 2018 | ||
Spring/Summer 2018 | Development of country reports | September 2018 | |
2018 October | Abstract submission to the 2019 EAPC Congress | October 2018 | |
Interim Report to EAPC 8 | October 2018 | ||
Autumn 2018 | Validation of country reports Article/final report preparation | ||
Winter 2019 | Feedback Steering and Advisory Groups and EAPC Board of Directors
| January 2020 | |
September 2020 | Finalisation of the taskforce and publication of report in Palliative Medicine
| September 2020 |