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Wuhan/Beijing Palliative Care Train the Trainer program 2024
Janet Lee, PT, Feldenkrais Practitioner
I had the wonderful opportunity to be part of the CACCC Wuhan/Beijing palliative care training program organized by the Project Hope from Sept 19-30, 2024. This program was a basic "Train the Trainer" program for nurse leaders to learn End of Life Care from experts in China and the US.
This program consisted of lots of academic information such as whole patient evaluation, symptom management (pain, nausea), recognizing psychiatric conditions like delirium, syndrome of imminent death, communication skills between nurses and cancer patients/their family members, and many other topics. I contributed knowledge and practice of moving patients safely and mindful movement lessons to help them with self-care.
I learned that the nurses have lots of responsibilities with end of life care for their patients. With very few physical therapists, social workers, and chaplains, the work of these disciplines ended up in the nurses’ hands. They are on the front line, seeing the patients daily, and are most familiar with their physical and emotional needs. They are highly motivated, compassionate, and dedicated to do their best for their patients.
I felt one of the most moving experiences, was when a roomful of quiet nurses who didn’t knows each other prior to this training started to share deeply with each other. They did the “8 Gifts” exercise in the morning then the CACCC Heart to Heart café in the afternoon. They shared their own stories about grief and loss of their own loved ones. There were many tears flowing around the room. Some wondered if they had what it took to be a good palliative care/hospice nurse. Sandy Stokes heard their concerns and asked Dr Gary and Dr Esther to talk with the nurses on how they manage their own emotions and kept working in this field for so many years.
Dr Gary shared how he had worked in primary care for many years prior to getting into palliative/hospice care. He admitted he realizes now that he made many mistakes. He now knows what he said in the past were not helpful to the patient and family. He said he had to forgive himself and learn to do better with his new knowledge. He reminded the nurses to forgive themselves for not knowing what they didn’t know. And to continue to learn and do better in the next encounters with patients. He reminded them to remember that they were hand-picked to come get this training. Their supervisors felt they could handle the work. Dr Gary also shared that he developed a physical ritual of “leaving work at work” at the end of each day. He took off his stethoscope and put it on his desk. Then in the morning he would “pick it back up and go to work”. He suggested that maybe for them it could be “taking off their nurses cap each night” as a ritual of leaving work at work. There was a palpable sigh of relief in the room.
The nurses shared that they came to learn about how to care for their patients but found out they were learning more about themselves. That was a valuable life lesson for them.
Thank you Sandy, CACCC, Linda Dong, Project Hope, and the entire US and China team for such an enriching experience. This is an experience I will cherish.
This program consisted of lots of academic information such as whole patient evaluation, symptom management (pain, nausea), recognizing psychiatric conditions like delirium, syndrome of imminent death, communication skills between nurses and cancer patients/their family members, and many other topics. I contributed knowledge and practice of moving patients safely and mindful movement lessons to help them with self-care.
I learned that the nurses have lots of responsibilities with end of life care for their patients. With very few physical therapists, social workers, and chaplains, the work of these disciplines ended up in the nurses’ hands. They are on the front line, seeing the patients daily, and are most familiar with their physical and emotional needs. They are highly motivated, compassionate, and dedicated to do their best for their patients.
I felt one of the most moving experiences, was when a roomful of quiet nurses who didn’t knows each other prior to this training started to share deeply with each other. They did the “8 Gifts” exercise in the morning then the CACCC Heart to Heart café in the afternoon. They shared their own stories about grief and loss of their own loved ones. There were many tears flowing around the room. Some wondered if they had what it took to be a good palliative care/hospice nurse. Sandy Stokes heard their concerns and asked Dr Gary and Dr Esther to talk with the nurses on how they manage their own emotions and kept working in this field for so many years.
Dr Gary shared how he had worked in primary care for many years prior to getting into palliative/hospice care. He admitted he realizes now that he made many mistakes. He now knows what he said in the past were not helpful to the patient and family. He said he had to forgive himself and learn to do better with his new knowledge. He reminded the nurses to forgive themselves for not knowing what they didn’t know. And to continue to learn and do better in the next encounters with patients. He reminded them to remember that they were hand-picked to come get this training. Their supervisors felt they could handle the work. Dr Gary also shared that he developed a physical ritual of “leaving work at work” at the end of each day. He took off his stethoscope and put it on his desk. Then in the morning he would “pick it back up and go to work”. He suggested that maybe for them it could be “taking off their nurses cap each night” as a ritual of leaving work at work. There was a palpable sigh of relief in the room.
The nurses shared that they came to learn about how to care for their patients but found out they were learning more about themselves. That was a valuable life lesson for them.
Thank you Sandy, CACCC, Linda Dong, Project Hope, and the entire US and China team for such an enriching experience. This is an experience I will cherish.
Compassionate Column
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