Peta has been nursing for 30 years throughout various areas of health and attended her placement as she wanted to increase her knowledge about palliative care and end of life care. Peta notes that she has completed a lot of night shift and when people are dying on her shift she felt confident that she was supportive of the patient and the family in their “time of need” however she wanted to learn more about what she didn’t know.
During her PEPA placement Peta gained better understanding of medications for symptom management and how combining and laddering medications can significantly add positive outcomes to their care. Learning more about the bereavement programs available in the region was also an important aspect of Peta’s placement. Peta discussed her outcome with her managers at Carnarvon so as to implement a follow up bereavement call for family 48 hours post the loss of a loved one to check in and see if they needed support. Added to this was also the idea of creating care packs for family who may be required to stay with a loved one while they are in the end of life care phase. These care packs would offer them the ability to have showers and care for themselves while they are being present in the final days of their loved ones life.