Innovation in Care

The Challenge

Palliative care is necessary to improve the quality of life of patients and their families, facing problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other symptoms including physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

Healthcare experts predict that by 2030 there will be 1.4 million persons in South Carolina living with three or more chronic diseases, requiring palliative care.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of palliative care and the role of nurses and other health care professionals as they supported patients, families, and their caregivers through profound uncertainty, stress, and often death.

The Solution

Build on our current efforts and resources by creating the "The MUSC College of Nursing Center for Palliative Care."

Principal Initiatives

• Build upon leadership in palliative care education in designing additional palliative care programs.
• Extend our healthcare practice partnerships to provide programs to other healthcare professionals.
• Community education and engagement designed to bring awareness and increase access to healthcare professionals trained in palliative care.
• Provide meaningful scholarship support funding to graduate students enrolled in palliative care programs.