The ELNEC project celebrates 25 years of advancing palliative care. This initiative began January 1, 2000, as a collaboration between the City of Hope Medical Center and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. ELNEC began in the early development of the field of palliative care as an effort to train nurses in care of the seriously ill and those at the end of life. Dr. Betty Ferrell, Principal Investigator of ELNEC, notes that “This 25th Anniversary celebration honors the thousands of clinicians worldwide who have been trained through ELNEC and have returned to their clinical settings to improve the care of patients and their families”.
ELNEC began with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Over the past 25 years, ELNEC has grown as a national and international educational program, reaching all 50 states and 115 countries. The ELNEC curricula have been translated in 12 languages. To date, ELNEC has hosted 313 national / international training courses, preparing over 48,000 trainers who have taught 1,555,743 clinicians.
The ELNEC curriculum teaches clinicians important topics, including pain and symptom management, ethical issues, cultural and spiritual considerations, communication, loss and grief, and care at the end of life. Several ELNEC curricula have been developed, including ELENC Core, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Critical Care, Advanced Practice, Communication, Oncology, and ELNEC Veterans. ELNEC offers both in-person courses (www.aacnnursing.org/elnec) as well as online education (elnec.academy.reliaslearning.com).
ELNEC is also preparing the future nursing workforce though its curricula for Undergraduate and Graduate nursing schools. The curricula have been implemented in over 1228 undergraduate and 434 graduate nursing programs and healthcare institutions, preparing thousands of nursing students as they enter the work force.
Dr. Judith Paice, a founding ELNEC faculty member and ELNEC curriculum leader, has witnessed the impact of ELNEC training noting that “…. thousands of nurses and other clinicians have attended ELNEC training, motivated by the deficiencies they have seen in patient care and leaving with commitment to apply their knowledge in practice”.
Dr. Carrie Cormack, ELNEC faculty and leader of ELNEC international training efforts has observed the desperate need for palliative care in low resource countries. She reflects, “Our international colleagues inspire us through their dedication, despite overwhelming needs and limited resources, to be pioneers in advancing palliative care within their countries”.
The ELNEC team extends gratitude to the funders who have supported these efforts and to the dedicated faculty who have led this important project over the past 25 years. As the need for palliative care continues to grow, ELNEC remains steadfast in its commitment to advance better care in serious illness and at the end of life.
For more information contact ELNEC@ coh.org or visit the website: www.aacnursing.org/ELNEC
