Palliative Care NSW (PCNSW) was delighted to provide three scholarships to the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference. Two scholarships were funded by the donation we received from Newcastle Permanent in recognition of the excellent palliative care provided to one of their employees by the Community Nursing and Palliative Care team, Nelson Bay, Tomaree Community Hospital and Health Centre. Nicole Rankin, Palliative Care Nurse and Nicole Witt, Registered Nurse from this service were provided these scholarships. An additional scholarship for a PCNSW member was made possible through funding from NSW Health, as part of a wider program of support for the sector that PCNSW is delivering. We asked these scholarship recipients to share their insights and learnings from OPCC.
Nicole Rankin, Palliative Care Nurse, Nelson Bay
While hard to select just three, my top three presentations at OPCC were:
Transforming Palliative Care for and Aging Society – Dr Jun Sasaki Yushoukai Medical Corporation
It was lovely to hear Dr Sasaki speak about the challenges faced in another country with providing palliative care services to an aging population. Not unlike our own country we have many older people living on their own with minimal family support – particularly here in Nelson Bay – a retirement paradise. If elderly palliative care clients wish to stay at home for end-of-life care then this can be difficult to facilitate if supportive family members are not available. In our care of clients, we try to empower families to make choices to help their loved one to have the end of life care in the place of their choice and if this is at home then the importance of knowing what is required for providing enough support to provide a supportive end of life experience.
Reflections on the Practice of Voluntary Assisted Dying as a Palliative Care Physician – Dr Bill Lukin Metro North Health
It was wonderful to hear of Dr Lukins experiences as both a palliative care physician and VAD provider. Such a valuable clinician/professional to have a wholistic care to patients that may opt for EOL via VAD – and after consultation then they may not end up going down the VAD path as they have found their answers and needs met through other avenues of symptom management. VAD is relatively new to NSW and is an option for some people if approved. We as a team refer to an option of VAD as something that clients can have in ‘their tool kit’ if that is what is needed. I would dearly like to have a replica of Dr Lukin working within our team.
Listening to Love Stories: Navigating the Complexities of Grief Before, During and After Death – Christopher Hall – Grief Australia
An insightful presentation on grief – an individual unique experience to all individuals and carers. Grief is a journey that begins prior to and at diagnosis – depending on symptoms. Treatment and confrontation of same and then end of life care and following death. As a palliative care nurse we quite often go on the journey or part of the journey with our patients and their families – we do not usually have much follow up following the death – only to collect equipment etc. Due to the close community environment in which we live, we quite often will bump into families who usually throw their arms around us in thanks and share with us memories that they may have experienced throughout our care and perhaps talk about goodbyes and funerals that took place – a shared moment of gratitude.
After attending OPCC, I have realised that the Palliative Care Team at Nelson Bay do an amazing job looking after our clients with limited resources and an ever-growing community. I am very privileged to work as a palliative care nurse and very grateful for being provided with the scholarship to attend the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference in Brisbane – I was able to network with colleagues from around Australia and beyond and gain knowledge from guest speaker presentations. – thank you so much!!!!!
Jennifer Dunne, Registered Nurse, Palliative Care, Goulburn Community Health
I work for a Specialist Palliative Care Team in Goulburn, having joined this team under 6 months ago I was keen to see the information and networking opportunities provided by the Oceanic Palliative Care Conference. I was also lucky enough to be granted a scholarship from Palliative Care NSW to assist with the cost. A wealth of information and new experiences greeted me across the 3 days. My favourite presentation was around the rural and remote work being conducted within the palliative care space for some of our island neighbours who are not as equipped or advantaged as we are in Australia. Learning the challenges and the models of care which need to be modified to fit something achievable for them was inspiring. The barrier around supply of morphine and internet connection for professional education was difficult to comprehend. This photo of myself (featured in this article) was part of a presentation around ageism; we were prompted to take a “selfie” and think about what we see first, and then the presenter highlighted that that photo is the face of ageing. Highlighting that someone’s age is not necessarily a barrier or something to overcome and to look at the person as capable in the first instance. The practice resources provided by the Caring@home organisation around personal care including photos and a step-by-step process is something I have already supplied to my patients and their families within my work environment. I would like to take this opportunity again to Palliative Care NSW for providing me with a scholarship.