National Center for Ethics in Health Care
Goals of Care Conversations Training for Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Chaplains
This program consists of training modules fo help clinicians improve their communication skills and conduct goals of care conversations with high-risk patients. It is intended for members of the multidisciplinary team who talk with patients and families about values and goals care, discuss the role of the surrogate decision-maker, and provide information about services and treatments. This course also addresses team-based practices for ensuring that goals of care conversations occur proactively in clinical settings across the health care continuum.
Goals of Care Conversations training materials for physicians, advance practice nurses, and physician assistants - click here
Training Materials
Part 1: Key Communication Skills (90 minutes)
Slides with Facilitator Notes
Handouts: Communication Skills Review Guide, Exercise
Part 2: Discussing and Documenting Goals and Preferences (4 hours)
Slides with Facilitator Notes and Embedded Videos
Slides with Facilitator Notes and Embedded Videos - with open captions
Handout: Talking Map
Handout: Services
Handouts: CPR Outcomes, Progress Notes
Handouts: Step 5 Exercise, Putting It All Together Exercise
Part 3: Implementation
Slides with Facilitator Notes
Handout: Implementation Exercise
Handouts: Roles, QI Tracking Sheet, Peer Observation
Sample Training Agenda
Training Sessions Tracking Sheet
Optional Activity: Values Exercise
Optional Handouts: Resources for Clinicians, Patients, and Families
Life-Sustaining Treatment Decisions Initiative: Resources for Clinicians - Goals of Care conversations pocket cards, worksheets, videos, podcasts, patient education materials, and more
Citations
Goals of Care Conversations training materials are available for public use.
When using these materials outside of VA, please include this attribution:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Ethics in Health Care. Goals of Care Conversations Training for Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Chaplains. https://www.ethics.va.gov/goalsofcaretraining/team.asp. Updated January 24, 2018. Accessed [date].
When citing this page, please use this format:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Ethics in Health Care. Goals of Care Conversations Training for Nurses, Social Workers, Psychologists, and Chaplains website. https://www.ethics.va.gov/goalsofcaretraining/team.asp. Updated January 24, 2018. Accessed [date].
