Nephrology
Patients with chronic kidney disease and/or end-stage kidney disease face specific symptoms and challenges, particularly when deciding on treatment. This Learning Pathway includes continuing education courses and other resources to strengthen communication, manage common symptoms, and integrate palliative care practices and specialists in patient treatment.
Communication Skills
Learn best practices for having patient-centered conversations about a serious illness diagnosis.
Learn how to effectively discuss prognosis with patients and their caregivers.
Learn best practices for building trust, eliciting patient values, and having patient-centered conversations about goals of care.
Learn techniques to help patients and their caregivers plan for the future, both during the early stages of a serious illness and as a disease progresses.
Requirements, best practices, documentation requirements, and time thresholds for Advance Care Planning (ACP) services. Center to Advance Palliative Care, January 2024.
Symptom Management Skills
Assesses for nine symptoms experienced by patients with serious illness and quantifies their severity. Alberta Health Services.
Validated screening tool to assess burdens and impacts of kidney disease on patients.
Two palliative care clinicians provide the ins-and-outs of assessing and treating fatigue in patients with serious illness.
Take this online course to learn how to manage dyspnea, including the physical causes of shortness of breath and the emotional impact on the patient.
Conducting a comprehensive pain assessment to guide safe and effective treatment.
Clinical training on the biological basis of chronic pain, building patient trust, and non-pharmacological and non-opioid treatments for managing chronic pain in patients with serious illness.
Clinical training on prescribing an opioid trial for the management of a seriously ill patient's chronic pain.
Take this online course to learn evidence-based strategies to identify and treat anxiety in patients with a serious illness.
This online course teaches how to accurately identify and treat depression in patients living with a serious illness.
Integrating Palliative Care and Palliative Approaches into Kidney Care
An introduction to palliative care, how it is delivered, its impact on quality of life, and the growing population of patients who need it.
A clarification distinguishing palliative care - available during any treatment - and hospice, which is a specific Medicare benefit.
Comprehensive article including the basics to know for holistic patient-centered care.
Assessing and supporting caregivers of people with serious illness.
This course provides context and best practices for identifying older adults at risk for poor outcomes, including falls, delirium, and caregiving challenges.
Dr. Edward Machtinger, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Women's HIV Program at UCSF, shares insight from his work in trauma-informed care, which can incorporated across disciplines and specialties. In this interview, we learn about the impact of one’s emotional, psychological, and social history, and how trauma underlies and perpetuates many serious illnesses.
A national coalition promoting effective communication among patients, families, healthcare providers, and payers to ensure that patients receive the care that is important to them.
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