Nurses in Aged Care

Nurses are highly skilled health professionals who support the health and wellbeing of older people across care settings.

Critical responsibilities of nurses involve assessment and planning of care needs, patient monitoring, management of symptoms and conditions, working in multidisciplinary teams to coordinate and provide care, and clinical decision making across the person’s journey. Palliative care is no exception.

The following resources are intended to help nurses learn more about palliative care provision, relevant to their scope and practice setting.

I am new to palliative care

As a newly qualified nurse or if you are changing the focus of your care, you may not be confident in delivering palliative care or discussing advance care planning. Care that meets the needs of our diverse population also needs to be considered. The following resources can help build your knowledge of these key aspects of care:

The ELDAC Care Model helps you think about the care needs of someone who may be declining and approaching the end of life.
The ELDAC Toolkits have information and resources related to providing palliative care in residential aged care, home care and primary care.
Advance Care Planning Australia has resources on advance care planning.
ELDAC provides resources on working with Diverse Population Groups.

I am new to aged care

If you are new to aged care, these resources can help you learn the basics and understand what nurses need to know. Caring for and supporting people from all backgrounds, especially older Australians, is an important part of building your knowledge and skills. Developing these skills can boost your confidence and help you provide better care.

The Equip Aged Care Learning Modules cover a range of topics including the Australian Aged Care System, the role of nurses, and the Aged Care Quality Standards.
The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has information on workforce responsibilities in aged care.

Developing my skills

As part of continuing professional development, it is important to identify the knowledge and skills/competencies required to provide quality care as health care professionals. Planning to meet your professional learning needs and knowing what educational resources are available will assist you in upskilling in palliative care and advance care planning.

Assess your learning needs

Use the ELDAC Personal Learning Assessment form (658kb pdf) to rate your own knowledge, skills and confidence in palliative care and advance care planning and create a learning plan (774kb pdf).

Education

The PaCE Aged Care directory helps you find learning and teaching resources to support the development of specific palliative care capabilities.
PalliBytes has a learning pathway designed for nurses.
The Advance Project® has a dementia specific course for clinicians and managers.

Placements and experiential learning

Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) and IPEPA offer free placements and workshops in palliative care which can provide an opportunity for you to learn from experienced palliative care staff. PEPA Aged Care also offers tailored onsite training in aged care.

Clinical and practice information

palliAGED provides Tip Sheets for Nurses which cover a range of care topics. These can be found on the palliAGED website section dedicated to support nurses.
The CareSearch Nurses Hub will help support you in improving your palliative care clinical skills.
CareSearch provide support and advice on communication strategies.

End of life law

The ELDAC End of Life Law Toolkit contains useful resources on common issues that arise in aged care related to advance care planning, voluntary assisted dying, substitute decision-making and managing disputes.
For further training, the End of Life Law for Clinicians (ELLC) is a course that is available for nurses to complete on end of life law.

While nursing skills are universal, the setting of care can influence how you plan and deliver care.

The following resources provide setting specific information.

Residential aged care
- The ELDAC Residential Aged Care Toolkit contains information, guidance and tools to support palliative care and advance care planning in a residential aged care setting.
- The ELDAC Managing Risk Toolkit has guidance on managing risk at end of life for people living in residential aged care and for their families.
- Short videos from palliAGED’s Education on the Run series are also available to support staff in residential aged care.

Home care
- The ELDAC Home Care Toolkit contains information, guidance and tools to support palliative care and advance care planning for home care clients and their families.
- caring@home offers online education modules for nurses to help train families/carers to provide care in the home.
Primary care
- The ELDAC Primary Care Toolkit contains information, guidance and tools to support palliative care and advance care planning in primary care.
- The Advance Project® offers eLearning modules for General Practice Nurses.
Tertiary care / hospital
- End-of-Life Essentials® has training on end-of-life care for nurses working in acute hospitals.

Tools to support your practice

palliAGED provides access to a range of assessment tools and forms to support the care of older people with palliative and end-of-life care need.
CareSearch offers tools for nurses in palliative care.

Reform changes

Nurses need to be aware of the policy changes that came into effect in 2025 including the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, a human rights-based Aged Care Act and the Support at Home program. You can find information about these on the Aged Care Safety and Quality Commission’s Reform changes for workers web page.

Page updated 22 September 2026