I recently completed a PEPA placement at Clare Holland House in ACT, a facility which provides respite and end of life care to a wide range of patients. I wanted to complete this placement in order to expand my knowledge and skill-set when caring for patients receiving palliative care. Specifically, I wanted to gain more confidence and experience in assessing patients and managing their symptoms. I completed a three day placement at CHH, with two days in the unit and one day with the home based palliative care team.
My two days on the unit allowed me to gain better insight into how to manage a wide range of symptoms that patients are experiencing, as well as how to communicate better with patients and their families regarding these symptoms and the dying process. Whilst in HBPC, I was able to understand the assessment process better, and see how this can be implemented prior to patients receiving end of life care.
Overall, this placement was exactly what I wanted it to be. I gained a lot of knowledge just from three days and have recommended it to everyone I work with. I was able to then take this knowledge and feed it back into my workplace, and ultimately, I hope I am making a difference to the patients we care for, as well as to the staff caring for these patients and their families.