Abstract
Terminally ill patients frequently visit emergency departments for palliative care. However, studies have documented that staff do not have the knowledge base necessary to provide quality end-of-life care. This lack of educational preparedness led to a pilot study that compared 2 educational approaches to teaching emergency nurses the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium Curriculum. Three 8-hour lectures and three 8-hour lectures plus simulation classes were presented to nurses who volunteered from the emergency department of a level I trauma center. This study showed no statistical significance in knowledge base between the 2 educational approaches. However, the ELNEC curriculum increased the knowledge base of both groups. As a result of the course, the palliative care team has seen a significant increase in palliative care consults from the emergency department.