Education Opportunities and Webinars

Communication skills workshops are designed to give clinicians the communication skills to use when discussing palliative care with patients and their families. A professionally trained actor and facilitator is used in each workshop to provide an opportunity for participants to practice and improve communication skills.

For further information contact on participating in a Communication Skills Workshop please call the GRPCC on 5623 0684 or email GRPCC.Enquiries@wghg.com.au

For Communication skills, resources and information visit the Communication Skills page of this website.

The free Grief, Loss and Bereavement webinar education package is designed for health professionals whose everyday work brings them into contact with people in their time of grief.

The hour long pre-recorded sessions, hosted by Keren Ludski, can be viewed at anytime on the GRPCC youtube channel by clicking the links below.

Session 1: Grief and loss theories and framework

Session 2: Effective grief and bereavement support

Session 3: Grief and loss in a palliative care setting

Session 4: Understanding and supporting perinatal infant loss

Session 5: Identifying your own emotional and physical responses to loss and how to effectively engage in self-care strategies

The GRPCC Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Shared Care worker has partnered with Allied Health Specialists across Gippsland to deliver online, recorded education sessions for registered and enrolled nurses, community and residential aged care workers, who care for people with MND.

Topics include:

• Communication, Swallowing and Secretion Management in MND.

• Assistive Technologies used to Support People with Motor Neurone Disease (MND)

For more information and to view the education session visit the MND page of our website.

The Palliative Care Learning Package is designed to assist generalist nursing staff to work toward and attain skills required to care for patients receiving palliative and end of life care, in the community, inpatient, or residential aged care settings.

There are four modules to this learning package. The modules may provide an orientation or refresher for acute and community nurses seeking continuing professional development in palliative care, and/or support graduate nurses in the development of skills and knowledge in caring for people with life-limiting illnesses, and in the terminal phase.

Click here to download.

The ‘GRPCC Palliative care learning package for generalist nurses’ has been mapped to Caresearch and to PalliAGED resources by Flinders University in 2023. This companion document to the learning package will support clinical assessors with resource mapping and to ensure that evidence-based information is used by nurses to complete the learning package.

Click here to download the resource mapping for clinical assessors

The Palliative Care Professional Development Opportunities booklet was developed to assist health professionals to respond to their self-assessment of their palliative care skills and knowledge.

The booklet provides a list of palliative care resources, websites and education available to assist health professionals to develop their palliative care skill set in accordance with the National Palliative Care Standards.

Click here to download.

The Professional Development and Skills Matrix and Resource Toolkit helps palliative care nurses identify, measure and address their individual learning needs and to develop appropriate professional development strategies for working in the palliative care settings.

Analysis of the results provides feedback on relevant professional development opportunities for the individual, department/organisation and the region, based on identified gaps, areas for consolidation and practice strengths. The skills matrix also assists clinical staff, unit managers and health services respond to national quality standards for accreditation.

The PD SMaRT project toolkit includes step by step instructions to replicate the project including survey questions, data analysis, report and email templates, and professional development opportunities.

Click here to download.

The Short and Sweet webinar series consists of five short education sessions for Residential Aged Care workers. They were developed in 2020 in response to the ongoing requests for palliative care education and the restrictions in residential aged care from COVID.

These 15-minute sessions are available on the GRPCC youtube channel and cover topics including:

(Click title to watch)

Advance Care Plans.... why are they so important in aged care?

Why is it so difficult to recognise decline in aged care?

Frailty in Aged Care..... What are the implications?

Advanced Dementia.... how will we know?

Care of the dying person

The Gippsland Region Palliative Care Consortium (GRPCC) and Palliative Care South East (PCSE) partnered with the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) in 2021 to develop the ‘Transition to Specialty Palliative Care’ (TSP) course. The goal of TSP is to support registered nurses (RN) to undertake formal, recognised education in a supportive environment, with the prospect that the nurse will continue post graduate study and complete a specialist qualification. This course, from 2026, is delivered by PCSE and ACN.

The course has a mixed mode of delivery, including online learning facilitated by ACN, reflective practice activities, online assessments, and face to face workshops. Course content includes symptom management, caring for the  physical and psychosocial impacts of life-limiting illness on patients, carers and family, as well as legal and ethical issues in palliative care. Strategies are explored to develop skills in appropriate evidence-based care to enable the best possible quality of life for patients and their families. In successfully completing TSP, nurses will be awarded the ACN unit “Principles of Palliative Care”, that is recognised as one of the four units in the Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care.

This course is most suited for Registered Nurses who do not have formal post graduate qualifications in Palliative Care

Applications for the 2026 intake have now closed.

To register your interest in a 2027 intact email TSP@pcse.org.au

The Time of Dying Forums, hosted by Gippsland Primary Healthcare Network and the GRPCC, was sectioned into four, one-hour sessions presented over four weeks in October 2020. Recordings of the webinar are available to view at any time.

Session 1: Diagnosing Dying

Session 2: Anticipatory Prescribing

Session 3: A Walk on the Webside

Session 4: Management of Decisions & Plans in the Dying Time

Presented by Dr Holly Aitkinson, Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician.

Click here to view the video

PCCG NP, Kelly Koschade, recently completed comprehensive training as an End-of-Life Doula. In this session, Kelly is presenting on the important topic of post-death care.

Click here to view the webinar

Donna Brown, Inpatient Palliative Care Nurse, provides education about breathlessness and constipation in palliative care patients.

Click here to view the webinar

Elise Witts and Peta MacGregor will be looking at a variety of death customs from around the world.

Click here to view the webinar

Nurse Practitioner, Phoebe Trinidad, talks about Decompensated Liver Cirrhosis.

Click here to view the webinar

Residential In Reach Nurse Practitioner, Sarah Harle, will be discussing the complexities of palliative care when dealing with patients with dementia.

Click here to view.

Linda Rowley and Annie Whitlocke are End-of-Life (Death) Doula's who support people plan for and experience end-of-life.

Click here to view the webinar

Presented by Sal Brown, partnership coordinator with the Healthy End of Life Program at La Trobe University, provide an introduction and overview of the HELP app. Sal discusses how the HELP app can be used to supplement the medical care people receive at end-of-life.

Click here to view the webinar

GRPCCS Social Worker, Lauren Gordon, speaks about the importance of hope during the palliative care experience.

Click here to view the webinar

PCCG Social Worker, Lauren Gordon, talks about working with hope and understandings of post traumatic growth in palliative care.

Click here to view the webinar

Irene presents an engaging session on effective communication, with a focus on navigating difficult conversations with confidence and compassion

Click here to view the webinar

Libby Roden and Leah Rotin discuss how to best support families when a child is dying.

Libby is a Family Support Practitioner who provides counselling to families with a child who has a life-limiting condition.

Leah is a senior social worker who has extensive experience working with patients with life limiting conditions and their families.

Click here to view the webinar

IPC Drainage Education

Click here to view webinar

Carol Barbeler, Palliative Aged Care and Disability Resource Nurse and Diabetic Educator discusses diabetic management at the end of life

Click here to view webinar

Sarah Lambert talks about LGBTIQ+ inclusive palliative care

Click here to view the webinar

Dr Ahmed Nagla talks about the practical considerations in cannabis prescription.

Click here to view the webinar

Dr Samara Cua provides education on Nausea and Vomiting in Palliative Care.

Click here to view the webinar

PCCG Nurse Practitioner, Nimmy Chacko, discusses Palliative Care for life limiting illnesses other than cancer

Click here to view the webinar

LRH Dietician, Hannah Mlynarz, talks about Nutrition in Palliative Care.

Click here to view

Dr Ahmed Nagla discusses palliative crisis management, including bowel obstruction and palliative emergencies.

Click here to view the webinar

Partnering to honour patient wishes

Click here to view webinar

Ashley Prelovsky from the Office of the Public Advocate presents Powers of Attorneys, Medical Treatment Decision Makers and Advance Care Directives.

Click here to view the webinar

Melissa Heywood works as a Clinical Nurse Consultant for the Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program (VPPCP) at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne. VPPCP is a statewide service for children with palliative care needs. In this session, Melissa discusses the nuances of paediatric palliative care and how to best support dying children and their families.

Click here to view webinar

Nurse Practitioner, Nimmy Chacko, talks about substance use in palliative care.

Click here to view the webinar

Jamie, with 5 years of experience in the mental health field, brings both professional expertise and the valuable perspective of lived experience. As a Mental Health Clinical Nurse Educator, Elainor adds 7 years of experience, offering evidence-based practices and compassionate patient care. Together, Jamie’s unique insights and Elainor’s clinical expertise bridge the gap between theory and real-life challenges in mental health. Committed to destigmatizing mental health, they foster a culture of understanding, empathy, and respect in every professional and personal interaction.

Click here to view the webinar

PCCG Nurse Practitioner, Irene Murphy, takes us on a philosophical exploration of the ancient concept of hope.

Click here to view webinar

Dr Lysa is currently a GP Registrar at PCCG, where she is undertaking advanced skills training in palliative care. In this video, Lysa discusses the role of the GP in palliative care.

Click here to view webinar

Nimmy Chacko, PCCG NP, and Lauren Gordon, PCCG SW, discuss the palliative care and its relationship with Allied Health

Click here to view

Presented by Laurie Draper, clinical nurse consultant in the Statewide voluntary assisted dying care navigator service.

Click here to view webinar

CareSearch has put together an extensive list of all relevant online courses for palliative care for health professionals.

Click here to be directed to the CareSearch page then scroll to to bottom and click on ‘All Courses’

end-of-life ESSENTIAL provide education modules designed to assist doctors, nurses and allied health professionals working in acute hospitals in delivering end-of-life care.

Click here to view the modules.

Peter Mac has a new VAD learning module.

The module is free and takes around 30 minutes to complete. It is open to all health care professionals, and depending on your discipline, it can attract 1 hour of CPD points.

The module provides a solid foundation on:

• Assessing whether a patient is making a specific request to explore VAD as an end-of-life option

• Understanding key aspects of the Victoria VAD legislation

• Identify the eligibility criteria for people exploring VAD in Victoria

• Outline the key steps involved in the VAD assessment pathway

• Know how to respond appropriately to a patient’s request for VAD using the CARERR approach

• Understand how to escalate a patient’s VAD request through the appropriate channels

• Understanding how to refer a patient to the VAD care navigator service

Accessing the module: 

For non-Peter Mac staff:

• Go to Peter Mac Learning Hub: Log in to the site

• Select “All other new users – Register”

• Complete your registration details and click “Create my new account”

• Follow the prompts to login to your Learning Hub account

• Log in → Explore courses → Search the catalogue

• Search “VAD” and enrol yourself into the module or add to cart

• Begin the course

Concerns over managing challenging symptoms can be alleviated with appropriate knowledge and support. A palliative perspective will be applied to the most common palliative care symptoms to give a broad overview.

Each video looks at the pharmacological intervention specific to each symptom from an Advance Practice Pharmacist, palliative care and pain management specialist point of view. It recognises the importance of non-pharmacological interventions either prior and/or in addition to medications. 

Click here for more information

This is a comprehensive in-depth course on delirium in older people.  It is aimed at health and social care professionals who provide care and services for older people at risk of or experiencing delirium.

Click here for more information

PCOC offers a comprehensive education program. This program is free for participating services. It aims to support services and organisations to embed local education and training for accurate and consistent use of PCOC's assessment and response framework and participation in the PCOC outcome and benchmarking program. The Education program includes PCOC Essentials - an online short course, virtual webinars/workshops and other useful resources.

Click here to be directed to the PCOC website

Caresearch brings together a range of resources and information to help the health care workforce find information related to education for nurses.

Click here to visit the Caresearch website.

The Palliative Care Bridge delivers innovative educational videos and resources on palliative care by respected experts and specialists in their fields. Our aim is to better equip users of the site to gain confidence and specialised knowledge in the delivery of appropriate palliative.

Click here to visit the Palliative Care Bridge website.

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) is a virtual knowledge-sharing network designed to create a ‘learning loop’ between health professionals with the aim of increasing knowledge and access to health care in local communities.

Palliative Care ECHO sessions are held on the third Tuesday of each month, 1:00pm-2:00pm AEST

Click here for more information

CareSearch has a list detailing national and international conferences and events related to palliative care. If you are aware of a relevant conference

Click here to be directed to CareSearch

PEPA forms part of the Palliative Care Education and Training Collaborative. As a national palliative care project, the Collaborative takes a strategic approach to education and training of the healthcare workforce and delivers programs for priority healthcare provider groups across primary, secondary and tertiary settings.

Click here to visit the PEPA website.

PPCEH is a collaboration between the Paediatric Palliative Care National Action Plan project and the Quality of Care Collaborative Australia (QuoCCA) project, delivering a range of paediatric palliative care education modules for health professionals

Click here to be directed to the PPCEH website

PaCE is a web-based resource directory app for educators and healthcare providers. Access relevant palliative care education resources direct to your device – the right resources, for the right people, with the right approach, to develop the right capabilities.

Click here for more information

ACN offers a range of Australian Government Department of Health scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate aged care, nursing and midwifery courses as well as scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying entry-level health courses.

Click here to visit the ACN website.

ANMC offers scholarships for nurses and midwives as part of its mission to act as “a living memorial” by advancing the nursing profession through education.

The ANMC provides and administers scholarships for nurses and midwives undertaking postgraduate study by course work or research at an Australian university or other accredited higher education institution.

Click here to visit the NMC website.

The GRICS Scholarship Program is available to Gippsland health professionals who wish to further their professional development in cancer care.

Applicants wishing to apply must ensure their preferred Continuing Professional Development activity supports one or more of the following priority areas:

-Multidisciplinary Care;

- Care Coordination;

- Supportive Care; and

- Reducing Unwanted Variation in Care.

GRICS Scholarship Program is available from 1 July until 30 June each financial year, subject to annual funding received from the Department of Health and approval from the GRICS Governance Committee.

Click here to visit the GRICS website

The Department of Health is offering scholarships to nurses and midwives in public health services undertaking eligible postgraduate studies in 2023 and 2024.

This initiative aims to build workforce capability through upskilling and developing the next generation of nurses and midwives.

Click here to be directed to the Department of Health website for more information

ANMF members and Special Interest Group members are eligible to apply for several grants, awards and prizes.

Click here to visit the ANMF website.

The Department of Health is offering scholarships as part of the Making It Free to Study Nursing and Midwifery initiative, to train and upskill the next generation of registered nurses and midwives.

Click here for more information

The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care are supporting nurses to enter and build their careers in the aged care sector.

Opportunities available to nurses include:

• Aged Care Transition to Practice Program

• Aged Care Nursing and Allied Health Dementia Care Scholarships

The GRPCC is pleased to announce that applications are now open for our Palliative Care Scholarship Fund.  Eligible applicants can receive up to $1,500 in financial support to complete the Transition to Speciality Palliative Care course, palliative care post graduate courses or other palliative care short courses. 

Application close 30th June 2026 and applicants will be notified of the outcome after that date.  

Please note that funding is limited with a total pool of $15,000

Click here for Palliative Care Scholarship - Guideline

Click here for the Palliative Care Scholarship - Application Form