The 2022 PCNA conference (May 1-4) – an event not to be missed

A blog post written by Dr. Claudia Virdun & Professor Jane Phillips

Palliative Care Nurses Australia (PCNA) is delighted to be supporting the sector through the delivery of our biennial conference focused on the theme of: Exploring new dimensions: the future of palliative care nursing. This theme is critically important given the challenges we face providing the best evidence based and culturally appropriate care that is safe and focuses on what is important to each person with palliative care needs, and their families.

The need for palliative and end of life care has never been greater and the demand is likely to continue to grow. The challenge is to provide the best palliative care possible in an environment of diminishing resources, when there are more people requiring our services, many of whom are older and have complex healthcare needs. Added to this is the complexity of care provision within the COVID-19 pandemic and alongside the adverse effects of global warming and the consequent impacts this will has on healthcare. As nurses we are ideally positioned to advocate, innovate and transform care. These are some of the issues we will be exploring among others at our upcoming virtual Palliative Care Nurses Australia Conference, from May 1-4, 2022.  We invite nurses from across Australia as well as the Asia-Pacific to join us as we connect, refresh our knowledge and understanding and challenge our thinking to inform the years ahead.

The PCNA conference enables delegates from across Australia and indeed globally to listen to and participate within plenary presentations that focus on: nurses leading change; innovations in care delivery; updates on national palliative care policy work; integrated palliative care in practice; and digital care provision. In addition to these key presentations, we are excited to support over 50 high quality concurrent presentations focused on varied settings of care provision (acute care, community, aged care), varied populations (paediatrics, underserved communities), workforce support, evidence into practice and safety, quality and innovation.

If that isn’t enough, we are also excited to announce two key workshops (one focused on assessment and management of breakthrough pain and the other on caring for adolescents and young adults with palliative care needs). In addition, we have two meet the expert sessions led by representatives for End-of-Life Essentials and Flinders University Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying. Finally, we are also hosting daily ‘connect with a leader’ sessions where participants can meet in a small group environment with palliative care leaders for a discussion about key aspects of leadership within clinical practice, management, education and research.

There is so much on offer but importantly, we have also designed the program to support connection and networking so conversations and collaborations started at the conference can continue as we all strive to enable the best care for those we work with. Full program details can be found via: https://www.pcna2022.org/program

We look forward to seeing you online at our conference and encourage you to register if you haven’t yet had a chance to do so: https://www.pcna2022.org/registration


Dr Claudia Virdun
Conference co-chair
Senior Research Fellow
Cancer & Palliative Care Outcomes Centre
Queensland University of Technology

Professor Jane Phillips
Conference co-chair
Head of School
School of Nursing, Faculty of Health
Queensland University of Technology