The Interdisciplinary Team: Key Skills for Hospice Managers

February 13 – March 13, 2023 (4 weeks) 

CE/CME Credit Available: Nurse, Physician, and Certificate of Participation for Non-physician Healthcare Professionals

Visit any hospice website and you will see at least one thing that is consistent in marketing materials: hospice care is provided by an interdisciplinary team. This is true because the values that underlie hospice insist that quality care focus on the “multi­ dimensions” of living and dying. Enter the manager! Skillful and well-coordinated teams require strong leaders. A manager’s ability to move teams through various stages of development, positive problem solving, and effective team meetings requires vision and expertise. Maintaining focus on patient/family-centered plans of care is yet another set of critical skills for managers. This MOP Level II module will provide “key skills for hospice managers” who share the belief that the interdisciplinary team can make or break exceptional care.

Module Objectives

After completing this module, participants will be able to:

• • • Define the term “interdisciplinary” as it applies to end-of-life care teams; List key Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoPs) as they apply to the functioning of the interdisciplinary team;
    • Describe what makes a team effective including the expectations of both the leader and the team members and assess which of these characteristics are currently present in your team and which are needed to take your team to the next level;
    • Complete an initial assessment of your team meeting to define which tools are needed to produce concrete changes in the effectiveness, efficiency and effortlessness of the team meeting process;
    • Apply critical leadership skills to typical team leadership obstacles; Develop a summary of the “ideal” team.

The module will be instructor-facilitated and is conducted online over a period of four weeks. During this time, you will read online articles, complete assignments, develop solutions to case studies, and take part in ongoing online discussions. You can expect to spend 2 – 4 hours per week in these activities. Participants will determine their own schedules for completing the course work; online learning does not require that you be in a classroom at a set time, which is a perfect arrangement for busy hospice managers! Completion of the module does require, however, that you participate in weekly assignments and post them by designated dates.

Christin (Coco) O’Shaughnessy, MSW
Coco O’Shaughnessy has experience working as a social worker and an advocate for hospice for over 25 years.

Coco obtained her BSW in 1994 from the University of Northern Iowa and worked as a social worker in assisted living and long-term care facilities. She then worked as a social worker at Cedar Valley Hospice in Waterloo, Iowa from 1998 to 2003. Coco obtained her MSW from the University of Iowa in 2004 and joined The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant team, Caring Connections.  She developed end of life and caregiving content for consumer education and created outreach materials for end-of-life professionals to utilize with those they served. She previously was the Consumer Programs and Services Director at NHPCO and oversaw the Consumer Services Center.

Returning to her hometown outside of Chicago in 2013, Coco began working as a consultant to NHPCO, focusing on professional education and writing for consumer engagement and awareness. While working as a consultant, she developed an interest in school social work while raising her own children.  Coco recently obtained her Post-MSW Professional Educators License in the state of Illinois.  Today, she works as a contractor with NHPCO both as a writer for web content and faculty for the Hospice Manager Development Program, in addition to a new role as a school social worker at a special education cooperative.

Please note: if you have taken prior online MOP courses, the course completion requirements have changed. For successful completion of the module, all participants must now complete all forums with a minimum grade for each forum of 80% or higher. In addition, all participants must complete the Course Assessment (exam) with a minimum passing grade of 80% and complete the course evaluation. A Certificate of Course Completion towards the Level II Designation of the Hospice Manager Development Program is then awarded along with CE/CME credit for nurses, physicians, and healthcare professionals who have requested this in advance. If you have any questions, please contact the course faculty for clarification.

Continuing education credit is available for nurses, physicians and healthcare professionals who complete this module and pay required fees (see Module Fees) for continuing education.

Nurse: NHPCO is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

NHPCO designates this enduring material for a maximum of 8 contact hours. Nurses should only claim the contact hours commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician: NHPCO is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

NHPCO designates this enduring material for a maximum of 8 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Certificate of Participation for Non-physician Healthcare Professionals: For participants* whose disciplines are other than nurse and physician, you may request a Certificate of Participation for Non-physician Healthcare Professionals to submit to your accrediting bodies/licensing boards for continuing education credit. This certificate will indicate the sessions attended that were certified for physician credit (AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM). It is the responsibility of participants to submit the certificates to their accrediting bodies/licensing boards for approval. Unfortunately, NHPCO cannot guarantee its acceptance. To receive this certificate, you must complete all CE/CME requirements and indicate your desire to receive this certificate on the evaluation form.

*including bereavement professionals, counselors, physician assistants, quality professionals, social workers, spiritual care givers, etc.

The module fee is $150 for members and $250 for non-members.

Late Registration Information

Please note: Due to administrative constraints, if you register after the course begins, there is a late fee of $35.

Registration Cancellation Policy 

All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing to conferences@nhpco.org. A $25 processing fee will apply to all cancellations. Cancellations made on the day the module starts or afterward are not eligible for a refund.