Nurses in aged care

I am new to aged care

If you are starting in aged care, the following resources may be useful to provide an introduction to aged care and the specifics that nurses will need to know in this area of practice. Diversity is an important part of aged care practice.

• The Equip Aged Care Learning Modules cover a range of topics including the Australian Aged Care System, the role of nurses, and the Aged Care Quality Standards.
• The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has information on workforce responsibilities in aged care.

Developing a learning plan

As part of continuing professional development, it is important to identify the knowledge and skills/competencies required to provide quality care as health care professionals. Planning to meet your professional learning needs and knowing what educational resources are available will assist you in upskilling in palliative care and advance care planning.

Assess your learning needs

• Use the ELDAC Personal Learning Assessment form (658kb pdf) to rate your own knowledge, skills and confidence in palliative care and advance care planning and create a learning plan (774kb pdf).

Education

• The PaCE Aged Care directory helps you find learning and teaching resources to support the development of specific palliative care capabilities. 
• PalliBytes has a learning pathway designed for nurses.
• The Advance Project® has a dementia specific course for clinicians and managers.

Clinical and practice information

• palliAGED provides Tip Sheets for Nurses which cover a range of care topics. These can be found on the palliAGED website section dedicated to support nurses.
• The CareSearch Nurses Hub will help support you in improving your palliative care clinical skills.
• CareSearch provide support and advice on communication strategies.

End of life law

• The ELDAC End of Life Law Toolkit contains useful resources on common issues that arise in aged care related to advance care planning, voluntary assisted dying, substitute decision-making and managing disputes.
• For further training, the End of Life Law for Clinicians (ELLC) is a course that is available for nurses to complete on end of life law.

Placements and experiential learning

• Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) and IPEPA offer free placements and workshops in palliative care which can provide an opportunity for you to learn from experienced palliative care staff. PEPA Aged Care also offers tailored onsite training in aged care.

Find practice setting specific resources

While nursing skills are universal, the setting of care can influence how you plan and deliver care.

These resources provide setting specific information.

• Residential aged care
  • The ELDAC Residential Aged Care Toolkit contains information, guidance and tools to support palliative care and advance care planning in a residential aged care setting.
  • The ELDAC Managing Risk Toolkit has guidance on managing risk at end of life for people living in residential aged care and for their families.
  • Short videos from palliAGED's Education on the Run series are also available to support staff in residential aged care.
• Home care
  • The ELDAC Home Care Toolkit contains information, guidance and tools to support palliative care and advance care planning for home care clients and their families.
  • caring@home offers online education modules for nurses to help train families/carers to provide care in the home.
• Primary care
  • The ELDAC Primary Care Toolkit contains information, guidance and tools to support palliative care and advance care planning in primary care.
  • The Advance Project^® offers eLearning modules for General Practice Nurses.
• Tertiary care / hospital
  End-of-Life Essentials® has training on end of life care for nurses working in acute hospitals.

Tools to support your practice

• ELDAC has a list of common clinical assessment and practice tools to guide care planning needs.
• CareSearch offers tools for nurses in palliative care.

Reform changes

Nurses need to be aware of the policy changes affecting aged care which will come into effect in 2025 including the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, a human rights-based Aged Care Act and the Home Support Program. You can find information about these on the Aged Care Safety and Quality Commission’s Reform changes for workers web page.