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1243 Junior medical officer advance care planning education. Are we meeting the needs of the workforce?

bmjspcare · 2025-09-09 · canonical JSON source

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Background Advance Care planning (ACP) education has become a routine topic for junior medical officers (JMOs) beginning employment at acute facilities within this large metropolitan health district. This education has been delivered numerous times without evaluation of its effectiveness nor suitability in meeting the goals of the junior medical workforce. Knowledge about not for resuscitation orders of JMOs has also never been assessedAim To assess the knowledge and confidence of JMOs in discussing ACPs and the implementation of Not For Resuscitation (NFR) orders in acute facilities across a metropolitan local health district.Methods We conducted pre and post education surveys evaluating confidence and knowledge of advance care planning and NFR orders for junior medical officers.Results Results continue to be evaluated as JMO ACP education continues district wide however, early findings indicate that JMO’s feel confident in having ACP conversations, though they struggle to identify the triggers to prompt these conversations with patients and/or their families. JMOs knowledge is limited when outlining the legal requirements surrounding NFR orders in the acute setting.Discussion There is a lack of confidence and skills in the junior medical workforce as well as a lack of consistency in education about ACP and NFR orders across the local health district. This project will assist with ongoing education planning to increase the capabilities of the workforce to broach ACP discussions with patients and/or their families. A secondary outcome of the education is to improve the documentation of NFR orders for identified patients that would not benefit from CPR, in order to prevent inappropriate care and treatment for patients as well as harm.Significance This project goes a significant way to establishing an education program which both meets the needs of JMOs as well as provides the clinical information necessary when caring for patients and their families/carers who require ACP discussions and NFR documentation. Standardised education is required for medical staff to ensure consistency in identification of triggers for ACP discussions and documentation of ACPs and NFRs.Unique Contribution Increasing the knowledge and capacity of JMOs upon entering the workforce would likely contribute to an increase in confidence in discussing ACPs with patients and lead to improved patient outcomes in line with their values.