Staff at Ballarat Hospice Care support patients, their family and carers to manage symptoms and care when home is their preferred place.

Ongoing training, research and networking ensures Ballarat Hospice Care’s dedicated palliative care specialist nurses and supportive care team maintain their knowledge and skills to help patients manage symptoms and care when in-home palliative care is preferred.

Another important aspect of palliative care nursing is caring for each other.

To ensure that the team themselves have maximum support, morning meetings between Ballarat Hospice Care staff have been introduced.

These clinical handovers also focus on education and peer support, as well as debriefings about current patients and discussions to make sure they have peer support when needed.

Support and training is also provided for carers, volunteers, families and patients depending on their own need and situation.

Ballarat Hospice Educator – Integrating Palliative Care, Mel Mattinson, said morning meetings gave staff the chance to access and discuss current research relating to palliative care advancements from leading organisations such as Palliative Care Victoria and Palliative Care Australia.

“We need to keep up-to-date with medications, best practice for symptom management and carer support,” Ms Mattinson said.

“We’re always looking at opportunities for education and providing opportunities for our staff to engage in professional care”.

Ms Mattinson said it was also vital for the staff to debrief and support each other, there are informal opportunities during the day as well but we need peer support to cope with situations that give rise to emotional responses.” Mel said