Palliative Medication Proficiency Education

Mastering Syringe Driver and Opioid Administration in Home Settings including Residential Aged Care Homes

All patients receiving end-of-life care are entitled to receive treatments to maintain their comfort and dignity. This care needs to include availability of subcutaneous medications as patients will not be able to safely swallow oral medications in the terminal phase of their life.

The use of a subcutaneous infusion device, more commonly known as a syringe driver or NIKKI pump, allows continuous infusion of subcutaneous medications, generally over 24 hours.

One of the benefits of using a syringe driver is that multiple medications can be combined and administered concurrently over a 24-hour period to help to maintain patient comfort.

It is widely recognised that competence and confidence in syringe driver use and palliative opioid prescribing are well-known areas of need within our primary health workforce. Several factors contribute to this including a lack of available training, time constraints that make it challenging to undertake lengthy and costly education for best practice and upskilling and concerns about over-prescribing in palliative home care.

Country SA PHN through Commonwealth funding made available via the Greater Choice for At Home Palliative Care Initiative, seeks to enhance the provision of care for people wishing to receive palliative care whilst remaining in their own homes, including residential aged care homes. To support this goal, we have developed FREE online education modules focused on palliative care medication, specifically addressing syringe driver use and opioid prescribing in palliative care. This course aims to support the ongoing continuing professional development of general practitioners and primary health workers across Country South Australia.

The training is suitable for general practitioners, palliative care nurse practitioners, residential aged care clinical staff and other health professionals with an interest in palliative care.

A downloadable completion certificate will be available at the end of the course upon successful completion.

For enquiries about the Palliative Medication Proficiency course, please email Debbie Timpano – Palliative Care Project Officer at [email protected].

Click here to register for the course.