Palliative care: Learning outcomes
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After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Describe how opioid and non-opioid analgesics are used in the management of pain in a palliative setting.
- Outline how common symptoms such nausea, vomiting and constipation may be treated in patients with a life-limiting illness.
- Advise on the continuous subcutaneous administration of medicines using a syringe driver.
You can download a PDF of the whole tutorial (without interactive elements such as the Learning Exercises) and a one-page summary of key points.

Competencies
This tutorial is aimed at hospital trainee pharmacists, and will help you achieve GPhC learning outcomes such as these:- LO 5 Proactively support people to make safe and effective use of their medicines and devices
- LO 12 Take an all-inclusive approach to ensure the most appropriate course of action based on clinical, legal and professional considerations
- LO 16 Apply professional judgement in all circumstances, taking legal and ethical reasoning into account
- LO 27 Take responsibility for the legal, safe and efficient supply, [prescribing] and administration of medicines
- LO 29 Apply the principles of clinical therapeutics, pharmacology and genomics to make effective use of medicines for people [including in their prescribing practice]
- LO 30 Appraise the evidence base and apply clinical reasoning and professional judgement to make safe and logical decisions which minimise risk and optimise outcomes for the person
- LO 34 Apply the principles of effective monitoring and management to improve health outcomes
- LO 35 Anticipate and recognise adverse drug reactions, and recognise the need to apply the principles of pharmacovigilance
- LO 48 Actively take part in the management of risks and consider the impacts on people
If you are a foundation pharmacist, this tutorial may help you meet competencies from the RPS framework including:
- 1.4 Selection of the medicine (medicine-medicine, medicine-patient, medicine-disease interactions)
- 1.7 Monitoring medicine therapy
- 3.2 Knowledge (drug interactions)
- 3.3 Analysing information
- 3.4 Providing information
Continuing professional development
Finally, here are some CPD activities you could consider:
★ Find out if you have a palliative care team at your Trust or in the community and arrange to shadow them.
★ Establish whether you have any local treatment guidelines on managing symptom control in patients living with a life-limiting illness.

★ Establish whether you have any local treatment guidelines on managing symptom control in patients living with a life-limiting illness.
★ Arrange to observe a syringe driver being set up and administered to a patient.