A mental health trust in North West England is seeking to boost the role of its nurses in enabling patients to make advance care plans.
A total of 40 matrons and nurse specialists from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust have undergone training at Liverpool John Moores University on anticipatory and advance care planning.
“It’s nurses like those working across Mersey Care that play a vital role in starting these conversations with their patients”
Julie Williams
It comes as focus has been placed nationally in recent years on improving the consistency of advance care planning after concerns were raised during the Covid-19 pandemic about the inappropriate use of ‘do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation’ orders.
Advance care planning is a voluntary process whereby a patient discusses and documents their preferences and priorities for their future care.
It is particularly useful for people who may be at risk of losing their mental capacity in the future or are facing a life-threatening or life-limiting illness or condition.
The training provided to nurses at Mersey Care was a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the trust and the university.
Jenny Hurst, Mersey Care’s chief nurse, said: “Advanced care planning is becoming an increasingly important part of our patients’ and service users’ needs, and this programme has helped many of our staff get a better understanding of using it more effectively.”
Dr Julie Williams, director of the School of Nursing and Advanced Practice at Liverpool John Moores University, agreed that nurses played a key role in getting advance care planning right.
She said: “When anticipatory and advanced care planning is done well, people should feel that they have ownership over the process. That they have been treated with respect and sensitivity. That the right people have been involved during shared decision making that takes into account what really matters to the individual.
“What’s especially important is that this is a proactive process, and it’s nurses like those working across Mersey Care that play a vital role in starting these conversations with their patients.
“It’s crucial that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge to undertake this part of their role to the best of their ability, as an advocate for the patient.”
She said the university hoped to deliver the training again in the future.
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