End-of-Life Training: ELNEC Core Curriculum Train-the-Trainer Course
Nurses spend more time with patients and families facing the end of life than any other health professional. Nurses are highly involved in all aspects of end-of-life/palliative care, and they address various needs facing individuals at this time of life. Expert nursing care has the potential to greatly reduce the burden and distress of those facing life's end and the ability to offer support for the many physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. Nurses have demonstrated commitment to excellence in end-of-life/palliative care.
Course Details:
Dates: TBD
Times: TBD
Delivery: In-person at Penn State Schuylkill
Investment: TBD
Training Includes:
- 1.2 CEUs earned through Penn State Schuylkill Continuing Education and Workforce Development
- End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Core Curriculum Train-the-Trainer course
- 12.0 contact hours provided by Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing
Registration Deadline: TBD
Please note, you will need to enter your RN license number during registration.
Coming Soon!
Please reach out to [email protected] to be notified about future offerings.
The ELNEC Core Curriculum contains eight modules addressing critical aspects of serious illness. These modules include:
- Module 1: Palliative Nursing
- Module 2: Pain Assessment and Management
- Module 3: Symptom Management
- Module 4: Ethical and Legal Issues
- Module 5: Cultural and Spiritual Considerations
- Module 6: Communication
- Module 7: Loss, Grief and Bereavement
- Module 8: Final Hours
The ELNEC Core Curriculum also includes several common threads integrated throughout the course. These major themes include:
- The important role of the nurse as an advocate.
- The family as the unit of care.
- The importance of culture as an influence at the end of life.
- The critical need for attention to special populations such as children, the elderly, the underprivileged, and the uninsured.
- End-of-life/palliative care issues impact all systems of care across all settings.
- Critical financial issues influence end-of-life/palliative care.
- End-of-life/palliative care is not confined to specific diagnoses, but rather it's essential across all life-threatening illnesses and in cases of sudden death.
- Interdisciplinary care is essential for quality care in palliative care and at the end of life.
Upon completion of the course, nurses will be able to train others with the ELNEC Core Curriculum.
Meet the Instructors
Maureen Sanders
Dr. Maureen Sanders is an assistant teaching professor of nursing at Penn State Schuylkill. She's been an adjunct professor on campus since 2009 and joined the nursing faculty full-time in 2021. Although she currently teaches in the undergraduate nursing program at Penn State Schuylkill, she has also taught in the RN to BSN program on campus.
Dr. Sanders has been in nursing education since 2004 and was employed by Alvernia University as a full-time, tenure-track assistant professor until 2008. She remained an adjunct professor, teaching in their undergraduate nursing program, RN to BSN program, and in Alvernia's Master of Science in Nursing program. She is also a former instructor at the Joseph F. McCloskey School of Nursing in Pottsville, Pa.
Throughout her nursing career, Dr. Sanders has remained clinically active by working in many areas in the acute care setting including the emergency department, pediatrics, and behavioral health. She completed an ELNEC Core Curriculum Train-the-Trainer course in 2006 and has since conducted the course several times over the years.
Dr. Sanders received her bachelor's from Bloomsburg University in 1980, an associate's in applied science from Reading Area Community College in 1983, a master's in nursing with a specialization as a family nurse practitioner from Bloomsburg University in 2004, and completed her doctorate in nursing practice from Wilkes University 2015.
She currently resides in Pottsville with her husband of 43 years, Mike.
Dr. Michael M. Evans
Dr. Michael M. Evans is the assistant dean for undergraduate nursing education at the commonwealth campuses and a teaching professor in the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, where he is responsible for teaching and advising in the baccalaureate, RN to BSN, and graduate programs. As the assistant dean, Dr. Evans works with college and campus administrators to oversee undergraduate nursing education at commonwealth campus locations. Dr. Evans is board-certified in medical surgical nursing, end-of-life care, and nursing education.
Dr. Evans is published in the areas of nursing education and clinical practice. He's a member of many professional organizations including the Sigma Theta Tau, International Honor Society of Nursing (Xi Gamma & Beta Sigma Chapters), National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, National League for Nursing and the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses.
Dr. Evans earned an associate's of nursing and his bachelor's in nursing from Penn State University and a master's in nursing, with a specialization in adult health and sub-specialization in nursing education from Misericordia University. In addition, he earned his master's of education with a focus in professional studies from Capella University and his doctorate in nursing from the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing at Penn State University.
Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing is approved with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Pennsylvania State Nurses Association Approver Unit, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Centers Commission on Accreditation. This Nursing Continuing Professional Development program has been submitted for 12.0 contact hours for participants who hold a valid RN license and attend the entire program; partial contact hours are not awarded.
