Publication
Regional Pediatric Education and Assistance Collaborative for Hospice Nurses (REACH): A Tele-Educational Intervention
Aglio T, Bobelis A, Autrey A, Hills T, Superdock A, Madni A, Bien K, Mali N, Kaye E · Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing · 2026
Outcomes 1. Describe the critical need for pediatric specific education and support for hospice nurse and identify current barriers to developing an accessible and feasible educational initiative across the Mid-South Region. 2. Characterize an approach for collaborating with key hospice stakeholders to develop and implement a “hub-and-spoke” tele-education model to provide hospice nurses with pediatric-specific training, support, and solidarity across the state of Tennessee. Key Message Few hospice agencies offer formal pediatric education, and hospice nurses in our region reported an urgent need for improvement in pediatric-specific training. To address this gap, multidisciplinary clinicians and community members collaborated to develop a virtual intervention (REACH) that demonstrated feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact in its implementation and dissemination. Abstract Hospice is based in an adult-focused paradigm; however, caring for children and families at end-of-life is uniquely challenging, necessitating pediatric-specific training. Unfortunately, few hospice clinicians receive this vital education. Previous work demonstrated that the vast majority of hospice nurses across Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi lacked training in pediatric palliative or hospice care, overwhelmingly felt uncomfortable caring for children, and emphasized an urgent need for pediatric-specific training within an environment that builds community. To address this need, we developed and piloted the Regional Pediatric Education and Assistance Collaborative for Hospice Nurses (REACH) Initiative to provide pediatric-specific education and foster solidarity within the hospice community. Methods We collaborated with key hospice stakeholders in our region to develop an innovative virtual “hub-and-spoke” model for providing hospice nurses across the state of Tennessee with pediatric-focused training and support. We assessed the feasibility and acceptability of this intervention to hospice nurses, as well as evaluated intervention impact on hospice nurse knowledge and comfort with providing pediatric care. Results 46 registrants representing more than 10 different hospice organizations have participated in the REACH intervention to date. Data demonstrate that this tele-education model is both feasible and acceptable to hospice nurses and that the REACH forum fosters a community of support. Nurses described receiving helpful pediatric-specific hospice information and reported an increase in comfort caring for pediatric patients following participating in REACH. Conclusion We successfully developed an innovative educational intervention that was implemented feasibly through collaborative partnership with key hospice community members in our region. A virtual “hub-and-spoke” model is an acceptable method to deliver pediatric-specific education to nurses while fostering a community of support. Next steps will focus on wide-scale dissemination to deliver resource-efficient comprehensive training and support to hospice nurses.
Synced from the TRENDS in Pediatric Palliative Care Zotero library, curated by The Siden Research Team. ICPCN does not host or verify the full text.