Physical, Psychosocial, and Spiritual Symptoms at the End of Life

Course overview

Being unfamiliar with the dying process can cause fear for patients, families, and professionals. Further, clinicians unfamiliar with death and dying will not be able to assess patients and families needs and may miss critical interventions. This course describes physical symptoms and psychological and spiritual distress that can occur at end of life to better enable healthcare professionals to prepare patients and their caregivers, promote their well-being during the dying process, and provide appropriate symptom management. The goal of this course is to provide nurses and social workers in hospice and palliative care with knowledge of the symptoms of dying.