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EPEC™-O | Palliative Care Educational Materials
  • Posted: 10/26/2011

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EPEC™-O Self-Study

EPEC™-O (Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Oncology) is a comprehensive multimedia curriculum for health professionals caring for persons with cancer. This Self-Study section consists of 3 plenary sessions and 15 content modules that are part of the full curriculum that is available on CD-ROM. Each session or module includes the following:

  • Introduction
  • Objectives
  • Instructional text
  • A summary
  • Key take-home points
  • Self-assessment

You may want to use the self-assessment before and after viewing the content. It will help you focus on key areas in the content and evaluate your learning afterwards.

There are short video vignettes of interactions between a clinician and a patient/family throughout the instructional text. The videos are not designed to show an ideal interaction, but rather to trigger reflection about the subject matter.

Estimated Time to Complete the Activity

The time to complete the activity and the associated self-assessment is approximately 1 hour for each plenary session and 1.5 hours for each module with the exception of module 3, which takes 8.5 hours. The time to complete the entire self-study and associated evaluation is approximately 32.5 hours.

CE Accreditation

The Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (provider # CEP 7976) as a provider for continuing education for nurses. HPNA provides a maximum of 31 nursing contact hours for the EPEC-O CD-ROM or EPEC-O self study educational activities. A link to the relevant online exam can be found under each plenary session or module.

Self Study Modules

Plenary 1 – Gaps in Oncology

Plenary 2 – Models of Comprehensive Care

Plenary 3 – Charting the Future

Module 1 – Comprehensive Assessment

Module 2 – Cancer Pain Management

Module 3 – Symptoms

Module 4 – Loss, Grief, and Bereavement

Module 5 – Survivorship

Module 6 – Last Hours of Living

Module 7 – Communicating Effectively

Module 8 – Clarifying Diagnosis and Prognosis

Module 9 – Negotiating Goals of Care

Module 10 – Clinical Trials

Module 11 – Withdrawing Nutrition, Hydration

Module 12 – Conflict Resolution

Module 13 – Advance Care Planning

Module 14 – Physician-Assisted Suicide

Module 15 – Cancer Doctors and Burnout