Palliative Care Needs Assessment (PCNA) and eLearning Programme

The PCNA is a tool developed to support professionals in assessing the current and future palliative care needs of patients with life-limiting conditions. The primary outcome of a PCNA is to identify current needs and create an appropriate care plan to meet those needs.

The eLearning Programme aims to ensure that people with palliative care needs will have the needs of greatest concern to them identified and responded to by skilled and confident staff across all care settings. 

The  PCNA eLearning Programme was launched in August 2024, it is a 1-hour programme hosted on HSeLanD. It is aimed at all health and social care professionals including those:

• Who provide the palliative care approach (Level 1, e.g., every clinician at hospital and community level)
• Who provide general palliative care (Level 2, e.g., healthcare professionals who, although not engaged full time in palliative care, have had some additional training and experience in palliative care)

The eLearning programme was commissioned by the National Clinical Programme for Palliative Care. The development of the programme group was guided by a high level steering group including clinicians from acute hospitals, general practice, primary care, the nursing home sector, specialist palliative care services and education providers. The All Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care (AIIHPC) were partners in the development of the eLearning programme.

All professionals are strongly encouraged to undertake the eLearning programme and to use the PCNA as part of their practice.

For further information see:

Link to recording and resources from ‘The Palliative Care Needs Assessment (PCNA) and the new PCNA eLearning Programme Webinar’ – 12 September 2024 (Link)

Powerpoint slides from ‘The PCNA and the new PCNA eLearning Programme Webinar’ – 12 September 2024 (Link)

Palliative Care Needs Assessment Leaflet (Link)

Palliative Care Needs Assessment Template (Link)

Palliative Care Needs Assessment (PCNA) Guidance Document  (Link)

National Healthcare Communication Programme, HSE (Link)

Guidance of accessing course on HSeLanD

• Registration and completion of this programme is completed through HSeLanD https://www.hseland.ie/dash/Account/Login
• Log in to HSeLanD using your account details.

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