Page 59 - HA Convention 2016 [Abstracts (Day 2)]

Corporate Scholarship Presentations HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2016

C3.6 Palliative Care 14:30 Room 428

Experience Enhancement from Overseas Observership of Paediatric Palliative Care in Canada
Wong YF
Paediatrics Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong

Objective and Purpose of the Overseas Training Wednesday, 4 May

The three-week training programme at the Paediatric Advanced Care Team (PACT) and the Acute Pain Service (APS) of
the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) provides new knowledge on the services of PACT and APS; offers an opportunity
to explore the extended roles of nurses in paediatric palliative care (PPC) services in Canada, to examine its possibility of
application to Hong Kong, and to understand training modality for PPC nursing.

Key Training Activities

The training programme was hosted by PACT and APS of SickKids from 2 to 20 November 2015. Clinical services training
included bedside attachment such as patient assessment, monitoring, symptomatic control and management; and interviews
with families to discuss the diagnosis, goals of care, hopes, fears, quality of life and support system of the families. By joining
multidisciplinary meetings and weekly caseload conference, both inpatients and outpatients’ palliative care plans were
discussed. During the conference, related academic issues were also highlighted. Besides, the grief support coordinators had
introduced their roles in grief and bereavement care and staff supporting activities which gave innovative ways to improve
palliative care in Hong Kong. Moreover, there were different lectures, seminars and workshops to illustrate the extended roles
of nurses in PPC.

Outcomes and Experience Sharing

The PPC in SickKids is provided by PACT as a consultative service and the philosophy of family-centred care is highly
emphasised. Multidisciplinary inputs and efforts are required. The concept can be applied in Hong Kong because Chinese
families’ values, traditions and culture are also very important to affect their options in care of the children in limited life
expectancy. Therefore, communication and coordination of care within the multidisciplinary team values partnership with
parents and family members.

In Hong Kong, there is no specialised palliative care ward for children and adolescents in public hospitals. Frontline nurses
are also not well-prepared to deliver quality palliative care in general settings. Lack of knowledge, skills and supervision
may create work pressure and cause low morale of nursing staff. In fact, nurses have the potential to extend their roles
on family centred palliative care and bereavement support such as telephonic followup, home visits and home care
support, condolence cards, memorial letters and group therapy, etc. Therefore, the training modality of PPC to healthcare
professionals may be developed in such areas.

On the other hand, some forms of respite care such as day care facilities for short stay are often lacking in Hong Kong. In
Canada, these facilities are found helpful in preventing family care givers from burning out. Besides, schoolmates of the sick
children are also well supported in Canada but not in Hong Kong. The government may put more resources in developing
these kinds of services to improve PPC support as well, so that wider application and acceptance of this specialty of care will
improve the best possible care of children with advanced diseases.

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