The North Dakota Nurse - July 2022

Page 4 The North Dakota Nurse July, August, September 2022
Palliative Care Awareness and Education in North Dakota
Nancy E. Joyner, MS, CNS-BC, APRN, ACHPN®
National Palliative Care Definition
A definition of palliative case was identified
by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (n.d.)
as follows:
Palliative care is specialized medical care
for people living with a serious illness.
This type of care is focused on providing
relief from the symptoms and stress of
the illness. The goal is to improve quality
of life for both the patient and the family.
Palliative care is provided by a specially
trained team of doctors, nurses and other
specialists who work together with a
patient’s other doctors to provide an extra
layer of support. Palliative care is based
on the needs of the patient, not on the
patient’s prognosis. It is appropriate at any
age and at any stage in a serious illness,
and it can be provided along with curative
treatment. (para. 2)
Background of Palliative Care Awareness in
North Dakota
On May 19, 2015, “Quality Care with Palliative
Care in Cancer” was presented at the North
Dakota Cancer Coalition annual meeting
in Bismarck. There was discussion on how
palliative care could be added to the qualityof-life
aspect of the ND Cancer Control Plan.
In October 2015, American Cancer Society/
Cancer Action Network’s (ACS/CAN) North
Dakota Cancer Summit focused on palliative
care.
During the 2016 ND Cancer Coalition annual
meeting, a dedicated breakout time was
palliative care. Most attendees did not know
exactly what palliative care is, where palliative
care services were being provided across the
state, and what services were provided. To
understand the status of palliative care in North
Dakota, it was decided by those attending the
breakout session to conduct a statewide survey
of health care facilities and programs to include
any diseases that could benefit from palliative
care. To begin the process, a small group of
individuals convened to develop and deploy
this survey. Members of this survey workgroup,
representing state programs, included:
• Lynette Dickson (ND Center for Rural
Health)
• Sally May (Quality Health Associates &
Honoring Choices® North Dakota)
• Nancy Joyner (Nancy Joyner Consulting)
• Sara McGaurvran and Deb Knuth (ACS/
CAN)
• Joyce Sayler (ND Dept. of Health)
Goals of the survey were to:
• increase awareness of and access to
palliative care in North Dakota where
current gaps exist and
• develop a baseline for ND palliative care
services.
The survey demonstrated more awareness
and education was needed throughout North
Dakota. ACS Cancer Action Network sought
support from the legislature to assemble an
advisory committee, focused on palliative
care needs in the state. In 2017, Senator Judy
Lee reached out to Tracee Capron (Hospice
of the Red River Valley) and Patricia Moulton
(ND Center for Nursing) to assist with the
2017 Resolution 4010. The formation of state
palliative care legislation would maximize the
effectiveness of palliative care initiatives in the
state by:
• providing substantial cost reduction and
• improving awareness, education, and
workforce about palliative care
The goal of this work was to adapt the
taskforce into action-oriented workgroups of
statewide partners, addressing the palliative
care needs in ND.
On June 27, 2017, a face-to-face meeting was
held in Fargo at Hospice of the Red River Valley.
Presenters were:
• Nancy Joyner – Palliative Care Survey
results and finds
• Donelle Richmond – ANA palliative Care
paper
• Deb Knuth – SCR 4010
• Lynette Dickson – Community needs
assessment
• Judy Beck – ND statistics
North Dakota Palliative Care Taskforce
The North Dakota Palliative Care Taskforce
(NDPCTF) (2022) assembled workgroups,
focused on palliative care access, awareness,
and needs in the state:
• Provider Education
• Access and Reimbursement
• Definition and Community Awareness
Provider Education Workgroup Members
Name
Donelle Richmond
Doris Vigen
Discipline, Representing/
Organization
APRN, Fargo, Sanford
RN, Mayville, ND Center
for Nursing/Sanford
Mayville
Judy Beck
Karen Semmens
Kris Hendrickx
Nancy Joyner
Tracee Capron
Liz Sterling- chair
Phyllis Heyne-
Lindholm
Jesse Tran
Sara Anderson
Minot, Quality
Improvement Program
Manager
APRN, Grand Forks, UND
APRN, Grand Forks, UND
APRN, Grand Forks,
Nancy Joyner Consulting
RN, MAOL, Fargo,
Hospice of the Red River
Valley
RN, Fargo, Hospice of the
Red River Valley
PT, DPT, Bismarck, St.
Alexius
PhD, Bismarck, NDDOH
Comprehensive Cancer
Control Program Director
ASC Cancer Action
Network ND
The Provider Education Work Group’s task
was to make recommendations to improve
access to information that will enhance the
understanding of palliative care by providers
in all areas of North Dakota. The group also
hoped to increase opportunities for members
of academia to disseminate information to
professionals in the state. The work group
members met over the past year and would like
to make the following recommendations to the
task force.
Key Topics:
• Access to educational information: RHIHub,
Center for Rural Health, was deemed
necessary.
• The platform will provide information
that is current by designating a plan or
organization to check the site at least
annually.
• There is a responsible group to update the
information–consider the North Dakota
Hospice Association.
• The platform has flexibility to house
relevant education and training
opportunities
• Interface with academia needed to be
considered.
• UND College of Nursing in this workgroup
will consider:
• Develop programming for students
• Program information in the form of
posters or other presentations, and
• Shared at state conferences or
professional meetings.