Palliative Nurse Excellence
Program empowers nurses with evidence-based resources, specialized training and mentorship.
As demand for palliative services grows, targeted investments in palliative care services at University of Vermont Medical Center become increasingly vital. Recognizing the unmet need, emergency response nurse Alexandra Keough, RN, applied for and was awarded a 2025 grant from the UVM Medical Center Fund to launch and lead a new Palliative Nurse Excellence Program.
"Compassionate and skilled palliative care can transform a patient and their family’s experience in the hospital," says Alex Keough, RN. "We were inspired to create the Palliative Nurse Excellence Program to strengthen the clinical expertise of bedside nurses to ensure that all patients have access to patient-centered care that focuses on comfort, resilience and meaningful recovery.”
The program is empowering participating nurses with evidence-based resources, specialized training and mentoring to prepare them for the nuances of bedside palliative care in the hospital setting.
Compassionate and skilled palliative care can transform a patient and their family’s experience in the hospital. We were inspired to create the Palliative Nurse Excellence Program to strengthen the clinical expertise of bedside nurses to ensure that all patients have access to patient-centered care that focuses on comfort, resilience and meaningful recovery.
Program participants are compensated for their training hours, which will supplement their responsibilities in their home departments. The program aims to:
- Improve patient and family-centered care, including better alignment with patients’ goals
- Advance interdisciplinary collaboration
- Increase staff satisfaction
- Expand nursing professional development
- Improve resource utilization
- Reduce costs
Participants will be trained in foundational palliative care principles with the intention of extending the reach of this essential care model across departments, such as the MICU, SICU, PICU, Miller 5, ED, Rapid Response Team and General Medicine.
