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Hospice and Palliative Nursing: Symptom Support and Goals of Care

4 contact hours nursing continuing education course: Hospice and Palliative Nursing: Symptom Support and Goals of Care.

A frail elderly woman in a floral nightgown lies propped on pillows in a home bed while a nurse in dark blue scrubs with an identification badge sits at the bedside holding her hand and leaning in to listen, with a lamp and a glass of water on the bedside table
Contact hours
4
Format
Self-paced, online
Last reviewed
Sep 19, 2026

$20.00or included with All-Access

$5 per contact hour · 4 contact hours

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  • No post-test required · unlimited retakes · evaluation and attestation always required

Course Purpose

4 contact hours nursing continuing education course: Hospice and Palliative Nursing: Symptom Support and Goals of Care.

Continuing Education Credit Designation

This educational activity is credited for 4 contact hours at completion of the activity.

Overview

4 contact hours nursing continuing education course: Hospice and Palliative Nursing: Symptom Support and Goals of Care.

Objectives

Upon completion of this independent study, the learner will be able to:

  1. Distinguish palliative care from hospice care by timing, eligibility and available treatment options.
  2. Explain that palliative care may be given with or without curative care and may begin at diagnosis.
  3. Name the symptoms palliative care exists to relieve and describe how each is assessed and reported.
  4. Differentiate acute, breakthrough and chronic pain and report each in terms a prescriber can act on.
  5. State the scale of unmet palliative care need worldwide and the access barriers that produce it.
  6. List the Medicare hospice eligibility conditions, including the six-month certification and the election statement.
  7. Identify what the hospice benefit covers, what it excludes, and what room and board means for families.
  8. Explain respite care and the fact that hospice can be left and later resumed.
  9. Structure a goals-of-care conversation around what the patient wants to know and who decides.
  10. Describe advance directives, including the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.
  11. Explain why documented conversations matter, using evidence on surrogate accuracy and outcomes.
  12. Identify the members of the hospice and palliative teams and route needs to the right one.

Policy Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the policies of FastCEForLess.com. This course should be used for informational purposes only and should not be used to diagnose, treat, prescribe, recommend, or initiate therapies or treatments in any setting. This course is copyrighted by Fast CE For Less, Inc. and may not be replicated, copied, or dispersed without written consent.

Disclosures

Fast CE For Less, Inc. and its authors have no disclosures. There is no commercial support.

Who this course is for:

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, registered nurses, licensed practical or vocational nurses, and other healthcare providers in any setting who want continuing education on Hospice and Palliative Nursing: Symptom Support and Goals of Care.

Course outline

12 sections · finish in any order across devices

  1. 1

    Course overview and learning objectives

  2. 2

    Introduction

  3. 3

    Palliative Care and Hospice: Two Words That Are Not Synonyms

  4. 4

    The Symptoms Palliative Care Exists to Relieve

  5. 5

    Pain: Describing It Well Enough to Treat It

  6. 6

    Unmet Need and Access: Why So Many People Never Receive This Care

  7. 7

    The Hospice Benefit: What It Covers and How Eligibility Works

  8. 8

    Goals of Care Conversations and the Nurse's Part in Them

  9. 9

    Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives

  10. 10

    The Last Weeks: Comfort, Family Support and After the Death

  11. 11

    Nursing Considerations

  12. 12

    Conclusion

References

The full reference list is included inside the course, after the Conclusion.

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