International Degree Programme Palliative Care M.Sc.

Degree	Master of Science
Start of study	Summer semester, Winter semester
Application period Summer semester	15 December until 15 January
Application period Winter semester	01 June until 15 July
Standard period of study	3 semesters
Credits	90
Accredited	Yes More information about the accreditation
Admission restricted	Yes
Admission requirements	Please visit the German website to learn more about the admission requirements
Language of instruction	German and English
Faculty/institution	School of Social Sciences
Integrated stay abroad	Yes

The International Master's Programme Palliative Care M. Sc. (PC) aims to develop the necessary palliative attitude in the context of practical work and the collection of empirical knowledge with regard to the growing proportion of older people as well as cancer and non-oncological diseases. In order to be able to adequately treat people with a highly complex symptom burden, as is the case in specialised palliative care, a university-anchored, science-based specialisation is required in addition to the primary qualification.

The three-semester consecutive application-oriented Master's programme PC M. Sc. with research components at the Hochschule Bremen appeals to a multi-professional and interdisciplinary group of participants.

Due to the so-called consecutive study programme, students can be officially enrolled and the semester fees fall under the nationally funded study programmes.

Recognition by the Bremen Medical Association for CME points are guaranteed in many modules. Further education and training points for professional carers in accordance with SGB XI §11 can also be acquired in many modules.

The International degree programme Palliative Care M.Sc. builds on the Nursing B.Sc. degree programme, for example, and complements the range of courses on offer in a synergistic sense.

The Master Palliative Care is a form of Advance Practice Nurse (APN), with a focus on palliative care, i.e. primarily specialised in symptom control with a high symptom burden in malignant and severe chronic diseases and multimorbidity.

According to the German Network APN & ANP g.e.V., the "Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) [...] is an academically trained nurse with an undergraduate Master's degree (M.Sc. or MNS) from a university or university of applied sciences accredited for this purpose in accordance with the Bologna Process. They work on and with the patient, i.e. in direct care at the base. Their roles include practitioner, expert, counsellor, teacher, researcher, leader and representative. She works alone as a specialist or leads Advanced Practice Nursing (APN) teams." DNAPN (2011, P. 33).
The opportunity to publish scientific articles in specialist journals during your studies

Possibility to design and submit research proposals during the programme

International networking through collaboration with European faculties in jointly created modules

Interprofessional cooperation with other faculties and joint modules (Master AMTS M. Sc. Bonn)

Digitalisation as project work

Hybrid teaching in block, evening and weekend seminars

Digital forms of teaching

Master's theses with relevant practical relevance (cf. SEILASS study, suicide assistance curriculum, etc.)
The focus of palliative care is on controlling symptoms in order to maintain quality of life. The final step is to accompany the dying, but there are many steps that can be taken before this happens.

Common clinical pictures to be treated:

Cancer

Heart failure

COPD

Dementia

... Many other clinical pictures with a sudden high symptom burden

Perspectives

Demographic trends in Germany mean that the proportion of older people will continue to rise. At the same time, not only cancer but also non-oncological diseases are on the rise, which will lead to a growing need for specialised palliative care and hospice work in outpatient and inpatient settings if patients cannot be cured. The focus is not only on adults, but also on children and adolescents for palliative and hospice treatment and care. This development will also increase the need for highly qualified specialists to work in this area in nursing, medical, psychosocial and spiritual terms. At the same time, there is a need for further development of care services with evidence-based treatment and care concepts, which will lead to better, guideline-compliant and science-based palliative treatment and support in the future.

The Master's programme

... conveys the core competencies specified by the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) and the German Society for Palliative Medicine (DGP).

... picks up on the content of various specialist certificates (e.g. Multiprofessional Basic Module 1 Palliative Care 40 hours, Palliative Care for Carers 160 hours, advanced courses Mildred Scheel Diploma and Dialogue Facilitator according to §132g SGB V), which are anchored in the Hospice and Palliative Care Act of the German Social Code (SGB) V for the care of seriously ill and dying people for standard care.

...recognises 80 teaching units ‘Leadership competence in outpatient hospice services’, in accordance with the framework agreement pursuant to Section 39a (2) sentences 8 and 9 SGB V on the requirements for funding and on the content, quality and scope of outpatient hospice work for adults and children, adolescents and young adults (as amended on 21 November 2022).

... supplements the curricular recommendations of the German Council of Science and Humanities on the masterplan for a reformed medical degree programme for prospective doctors with interprofessional courses.

Study programme

Content areas e.g.

Palliative care as a profession
... critically reflect on and analyse theoretical and practical knowledge from the field of palliative care.
Scientific thinking and working
... expand their ability to apply scientific methods, evaluate studies and formulate new and expanded fields of research, particularly in the area of health services research.
Practical module
... transfer scientific findings into professional action, i.e. be enabled to provide healthcare independently and on their own responsibility. E.g. alleviating stressful symptoms, recognising the dying phase and accompanying and monitoring emergencies and initiating crisis intervention if necessary.
Multi- and interprofessional collaboration
... Structuring tasks, also in the context of cooperation, coordination and change management. The different disciplinary and professional backgrounds of the students enable a direct discourse between these groups during the programme.
Management and team development
... learn the basics of management and learn to assume leadership functions (personnel management, process design, etc.).
Teamwork and coordinating advance planning
... palliative care coordination as well as ethical decision-making and implementation of an advance directive in an interdisciplinary team.
Professional-political knowledge and society in the context of personal development
... critically discuss professional-political structures and topics and develop their own professional profile with a palliative attitude.

The modules in semesters 1-3 are:

Course content:

10 core competencies by the European Association for Palliative Care (- different settings in hospice and palliative care (1), - physical (2), psychological (3), social (4) and spiritual (5) needs, - needs of carers and family members (6), -clinical and ethical decision-making (7), - care coordination and interprofessional teamwork in different settings (8), - interpersonal and communication skills (9), - self-awareness and con-tinuous professional development (10))

Complex case-work in an inter-/multiprofessional team, taking into account the physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions

Professional, ethical and legal aspects of palliative care (e.g. dealing with dying wishes, voluntary stopping eating and drinking, death wishes, assisted suicide, non-consenting patients)
Course content:

Epidemiological research methods

Quantitative research methods and their analysis (including sample analysis, multiple testing, statistical analysis, standardised surveys, observation, experiments and trials)

Critical reflection on scientific publications

Writing a scientific article

Health services research in palliative care

Multicentre studies and research networks
Course content:

Hierarchical levels

Communication in interprofessional teams

Clarification of roles in the team as an important personal task of reflection

Intra- and inter-role conflicts

Group formation and group phases

Interfaces between full-time and voluntary work

SPIKES, NURSE, Breaking bad news - concept

Conducting difficult conversations with relatives

Legal aspects in palliative care

Basics of ethics (ethics of duty, utilitarian ethics, discourse ethics, ethics of principles, hermeneutic ethics, ethical case discussions, structures of ethical consultation)
Course content:

AWMF guideline programmes

Apply the content of S1 to S3 guidelines and expert standards

Nursing diagnoses in the context of palliative care

Symptoms of palliative patients - evidence-based treatment, care and support (including respiratory,

gastrointestinal and neuropsychiatric symptoms and lymphoedema, (ex)ulcerating wounds, pruritus)

Alleviation of rare distressing symptoms

Symptom assessment ‘Total Symptom and Individual Component Scores’ (physical, spiritual, psychological and social suffering)

Forms of sedation for symptom relief

Discourses on sedation (ethical, medical, legal, nursing, psychological)

Existential suffering

Sexuality in palliative living situations

Non-pharmacological measures such as basal stimulation, aromatherapy, pain therapy and acupressure

Dealing with social and emotional stress in patients and close relatives

Psychological interventions for main symptoms (anxiety, depressive disorders, fatigue, sleep disorders, pain, restlessness, delirium, terminal agitation, fear)

Psychotherapeutic interventions at the end of life (crisis intervention, relaxation techniques, dementia ther-apy)
Course content:

Team management (e.g. team management wheel, team development phases, DISG model of personality and personnel development models)

Implementation of innovations and model projects in practice

Knowing leadership strategies and being able to apply them to specific situations

Fundamentals of cooperation (e.g. horizontal, vertical, diagonal, lateral, complementary cooperation, joint venture, community of interest, strategic alliance)

Networking

Transformation management in the healthcare sector (e.g. in hospitals, outpatient care services,

inpatient care, hospices)

Fundamentals of coordination

Organisational forms of palliative care

Course content:

Differences and similarities in different countries (e.g. euthanasia, therapy goal setting)

Care ethics

International exchange and cooperation

International view of bereavement work (models, content, cultural influence)

Migration as a challenge in care

Consideration of diversity and gender in palliative care and treatment and at the end of life

Social ‘marginalised groups’, health literacy

Responding to the challenges of clinical and ethical decision-making in palliative care
Course content:

Knowledge transfer between theory and practice

Qualitative research and associated interpretative methods

Ethics application, data protection concept

Grounded theory (Corbin, Strauss)

Qualitative content analysis (Mayring)

Creating research proposals

Mixed-methods design
Course content:

Medical indication, informed consent

Basic principles and scientific discourse on shared decision making

Participatory decision-making for therapeutic (such as nursing, speech and logopedic therapy, ergo- and physio-therapeutic) interventions in a rehabilitative and life-prolonging context

Ethical discourse on self-determination and autonomy

Legal and ethical principles (e.g. §1827, §630d BGB)

Background to incapacity to consent

Decision-making for people capable of giving consent and cognitively impaired people

Basics of Advance Care Planning at national and international level including discourses in science and re-search

Living will, health care proxy, care directive / advance directive
Course content:

Various settings of concrete hospice and palliative care within the landscapes of care

Multiprofessional symptom management of physical, psychological, social and spiritual symptoms and stress

Systemic understanding of the needs and requirements of patients and their relatives and social environ-ment

Possibilities of improving the quality of life of seriously ill and dying people

Spectrum of the work content of individual professions within palliative care

Dealing with the deceased and the grieving bereaved (especially with children and adolescents)

Farewell culture and rituals
Course content:

Responding to the challenges of clinical and ethical decision making in the palliative care team

Comprehensive care coordination and interdisciplinary and interprofessional teamwork across all settings in which palliative care is provided

Emotional processing of change

Organizational ethics

Team strategies to address social, psychological and spiritual needs in a multicultural way

Methods of error culture in organizations and teams

Agility, agile team

Meeting the needs of family members and relatives as a team

Needs and stress factors of family caregivers and support options in terms of social law / network of re-gional bereavement services

Course content:

Needs of the patient's carers and relatives in relation to short-, medium- and long-term treatment goals

Challenges of clinical and ethical decision-making in palliative care

Coordination office of the German Society for Palliative Medicine

Case and care management

Basics and development of palliative care and hospice work

Tasks of umbrella organizations and professional associations (DHPV, DGP, German Medical Association)

Charter for seriously ill and dying people

Social Security Code (Sozialgesetzbuch) V, XI (especially Hospice and Palliative Care Act)

Methods of team and self-reflection (supervision, intervision, case discussions, peer counselling, coaching)

Role theories

Burnout, cool-out and burnout prevention

Self-care, resilience

Coping strategies for stressful emotions

Moral distress, moral injury

Protective factors (e.g. humour)

Aspects of order therapy, relaxation techniques / meditation, exercise, nutrition, naturopathic self-help strategies, changing stress-aggravating thoughts, communicative and social skills

Multimodal therapy concept of mind-body medicine
Course content:

Scientific research

Narrowing down the topic and formulating the scientific question

Data analysis, research system, generating hypotheses, statistical analyses

Evaluation of own results

Comparative scientific discussion with fellow students and lecturers

Discussion of results (in a team and in front of subject representatives)

Time management and planning the course of study

Written elaboration in accordance with the requirements of the degree programme and the Master's ex-amination regulations

All about the degree programme

Master of Science degree (90 ECTS)
Admission can be granted with 180 ECTS as a prerequisite, missing ECTS can be individually recognised through previous professional qualifications within the framework of "extracurricular achievements" and/or fulfilled through bridging modules.
- Admission regulations for the consecutive Master's programmes at Hochschule Bremen
- Application for recognition of competences acquired outside the university
- Application form for the presentation of (professional) practice or relevant practical activity (particularly suitable for Bachelor-Master gap/‘30-CP gap’)
Acquisition of the certificates recognised by the DGP and DHPV Multiprofessional Basic Module 1 Palliative Care (40 hours), Palliative Care for Social Work (120 hours) and, after successful completion of the course, the certificate Palliative Care Multiprofessional Further Training for Nursing Professionals (160 hours), in accordance with the legal requirements of §39a SGB V, §132 in conjunction with §37b SGB V. §37b SGB V and other certificates can be obtained during the programme, e.g. recognition of parts of the Mildred Scheel Diploma, certificate as a counsellor in accordance with §132g SGB V GVP/ ACP (but only with an additional advanced course that can be booked and financed separately).
Regular duration of study 1.5 years
Costs correspond to the regular tuition fees of the Hanseatic City of Bremen
Full-time or part-time study possible: The modules are largely offered in hybrid form (both face-to-face and online) and follow-up work on the topics is always guaranteed if participation in certain seminar days/hours and lectures is not possible. The structure of block seminars, weekend and evening seminars also enables participation alongside work.
Module content can also be made up in self-study time if students are absent (use of the Aulis learning platform).
Compulsory attendance only for skills and simulation training.
Each module requires a successfully completed module examination (written examination, term paper, oral examination).
Some modules are held in English, sometimes in cooperation with international partner universities. You will receive support from Hochschule Bremen to develop your language skills. The English language level acquired at school is absolutely sufficient.
During the programme, you will write scientific articles that can be published.
The compulsory practical module should be completed abroad if possible, but can also be completed in Germany.
Existing qualifications can be recognised up to 50%. Please speak to the programme director about this.

International Degree Programme Palliative Care M.Sc.

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Module Handbook

Examination regulations (German)

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Head of programme

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