Expected outcomes

The modules develop knowledge and skills to recognise end-of-life issues, to enhance communication strategies and to gain confidence in caring for patients and their families in acute hospitals requiring end-of-life care.

The toolkit resources will sustain and support learning and help learners apply this knowledge in practice.

End-of-Life Essentials education modules

The education modules provide clinically relevant and evidence based learning materials with quizzes, evidence based links and educational videos. Clinicians are encouraged to examine their own practice and build on their individual expertise across a wide range of issues which are fundamental to quality and safe end-of-life care in hospitals.

  • Dying, a normal part of life
  • Patient-Centred Communication and Shared Decision-Making
  • Recognising the End of Life
  • Planning End-of-Life Care - Goals of Care
  • Teams and Continuity for the Patient
  • Responding to Concerns
  • Emergency Department End-of-Life Care
  • Paediatric End-of-Life Care
  • Chronic Complex Illness End-of-Life Care
  • Imminent Death - How to Respond
  • States of Mind at the End of Life
  • Assessing Patient States of Mind at the End of Life
  • Clinical Management of Anxiety, Depression and more

Target audience

All clinical staff working in acute hospitals involved in delivering end-of-life care.



End-of-Life Essentials Toolkit

The End-of-Life Essentials Toolkit is currently under development. The Toolkit will contain templates, literature, posters, videos and other resources to help you maintain your knowledge about end-of-life care and facilitate discussion and engagement in your practice setting. It will be released in October 2016.


Target audience

All clinical staff working in acute hospitals involved in delivering end-of-life care.

For further information

Kim Devery
Head, Palliative Care at Flinders University
Lead, End-of-Life Essentials Project
t: 08 7221 8223 e: kim.devery@flinders.edu.au

End-of-Life Essentials Website

Last updated 25 October 2021