Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA)
Symptom Management in Children's Palliative Care
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Short course
Course type
6 hours
Study time
Online
Mode of learning
6 CPD points
5 Clinical, 1 Ethics
(70% average required)
(70% average required)
Course overview
This course offers healthcare providers, in particular doctors and nurses, working with or caring for children with life-threatening or life-limiting conditions important information on how to recognise, assess and manage common symptoms these children are likely to experience. The ability to provide timely management of the more distressing symptoms, particularly those experienced at the end of life, will ensure a better quality of life and lower anxiety levels for the patient and their family members.
The course Symptom Management in Children's Palliative Care covers the following key elements:
- Understand and describe the difference between a sign and a symptom
- A general approach to symptom management
- Assessment and management of cardiorespiratory symptoms
- Assessment and management of gastrointestinal symptoms
- Assessment and management of dermatological symptoms
- Assessment and manage nutritional and constitutional symptoms
- Assess and management of neurological and neuromuscular symptoms
- General principles of dealing with palliative care emergencies
Who is this course for?
Healthcare professionals caring for children, particularly those with life-threatening illnesses and conditions
Required qualification
None. Suggested for those with healthcare related diploma or degree.
Course level
Intermediate
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Why choose this course?
Use this section to highlight the benefits or unique selling points of a course:
- Comprehensive Curriculum: Covers all key concepts and skills, ensuring a deep and thorough understanding of the subject.
- Expert Developers: Learn from industry leaders and academic experts with years of real-world experience and insight.
- Flexible Learning Options: Our online courses provide the flexibility and convenience of learning in your own time, from the comfort of your home or office.
About the academic institution
Patch Academy is the education arm of Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA). It is an online learning platform that has operated for 3 years and trained over 3700 students with courses included in the curricula of 5 major universities in South Africa. Patch Academy offers paediatric palliative care training via interactive courses on various aspects of providing holistic care to children with palliative care needs. The 12 available courses are all CPD accredited and have been developed by a group of experts in the field. The content is appropriate for all members of a multi-disciplinary palliative care team and there are no prerequisites for taking our courses. We invite anyone with an interest in caring for children with serious, chronic, life-threatening and/or complex medical conditions and their families to complete any or all of the courses.
Patch contact info
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Course Lessons
Content experts and course authors
Dr Julia Ambler
Co-Founder and Medical Director of Umduduzi Hospice Care for Children
Lecturer at UKZN
Lecturer at UKZN
Dr Ambler graduated from UCT with her MBChB in 1998. After her junior doctor years, she spent 6 years in Oxford, UK returning home in early 2008. Whilst in the UK she trained and worked as a general practitioner and a children’s hospice doctor at Helen and Douglas Houses in Oxford. Since returning to South Africa in 2008 Julia has focused on providing paediatric palliative care services in her home province of KwaZulu-Natal. She is currently deputy director and head of clinical services at Umduduzi – Hospice Care for Children. In her role, she consults in children’s palliative care and trains health professionals and medical students. She is a sessional lecturer in the Department of Paediatrics, Nelson Mandela Medical School, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Dr Michelle Meiring
Paediatrician specialising in Pain and Palliative Care
Founder and CEO of Paedspal
Lecturer at UCT
Dr Meiring is a Paediatrician with a special interest in Palliative Care and Chronic Pain Management. She is the Founding Director of Paedspal, an NGO that provides a paediatric palliative care service to public and private patients in Cape Town. Academically she convenes the Post-Graduate Diploma in Paediatric Palliative Medicine at UCT. An active advocate, Dr Meiring founded Palliative Care for Children South Africa (PatchSA) and chaired the organisation for 12 years. She remains as the advocacy lead and is engaged in policy making nationally.
Sr Tracy Rawlins
Professional Nurse & Midwife
Education & Training Manager
PatchSA
Tracy Rawlins is a qualified professional nurse, midwife and health educator. Her experience in caring for the terminally ill in her community laid the foundation for her qualification in adult palliative care but her heart and passion has always been in working with babies and children. In 2017 she successfully completed her post grad diploma in Paediatric Palliative medicine, cum laude. Her current role as the Training and Education Manager for PatchSA has afforded her the opportunity to combine both her passion for facilitation and training, and at the same time, assist in caring and supporting children with serious illnesses and their families.
Course developers
Sue Boucher is the Programme & Communications Manager and Tracy Rawlins is the Education and Training Manager at PatchSA. Sue Boucher is a teacher by profession, an author, and communications expert. She has worked in the field of children's palliative care since 2008 and is well versed in all aspects of the specialty. Tracy Rawlins is a professional nurse with a post gratudate qualification in nurse education, adult, and paediatric palliative medicine. They are both content experts with vast experience in adult education and have honed their skills as online instructional designers since 2020, collaboratively developing each of the 12 virtual courses available on the Patch Academy website.
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Student testimonials
The course was excellent. It is a must for every health care provider, not just those working in paediatrics or palliative care. It was easy to navigate, very well thought out, had an appropriate use of resources and was thoroughly engaging. Even though I do this every day, I learned quite a lot and I really enjoyed doing it.
As a professional nurse I realized that I knew very little about symptom management in palliative care after taking this course. The knowledge that I have gained is enormous.
This is a very informative course that would be beneficial for all clinical personnel not only palliative care team.
Available on mobile and web
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