Katie Fitzmaurice and Becca Allder will enhance palliative care skills in new Fellowship

Two University of Rhode Island College of Nursing students will become experts in palliative care as the inaugural participants in the Susan D. Flynn Palliative Care Undergraduate Fellowship.

Nursing students Katie Fitzmaurice and Becca Allder will enhance their “core palliative care clinical education through observation, exposure and supervised participation in all aspects of compassionate, patient-centered, family-oriented palliative care” as the program’s first Fellows. The two students are “committed to providing person-centered care that is based on the seriously ill person and family’s beliefs, values, and goals,” according to Associate Professor Susan Desanto-Madeya, the College’s Miriam Weyker Chair, who heads the Flynn Fellowship.

“I am excited that Katie Fizmaurice and Becca Allder will be the inaugural URI Flynn Undergraduate Palliative Care Fellows,” Desanto-Madeya said. “Both Katie and Becca are passionate about optimizing the quality of life for persons and families living with serious illness by minimizing their physical, emotional and spiritual pain and distress. The Palliative Care fellowship will provide them with foundational knowledge and skills needed to comprehensively care for persons and families living with serious illness throughout the illness trajectory and across care settings.”

The specialized fellowship program is intended to stimulate career interest and foster the professional development of much-needed future palliative care nurses. The program is designed to enhance the student’s “Experiential learning” opportunities include person/family care, internal meetings and educational forums. By producing well-educated, skilled, and prepared future Palliative Care Nurses, the program’s ultimate goal is to help optimize the quality of life of patients and families living with serious illnesses. 

“I feel so blessed and grateful to have been given this opportunity,” Allder said. “As I enter my senior year, I am starting to figure out and plan what I want to do post-graduation. I currently have a minor in Thanatology and hope to become an oncology nurse. Being a part of this internship will allow me to develop my skills in the Palliative care field and help me develop as a successful nurse.”

“I am very excited for this opportunity this summer,” Fitzmaurice said. “I think I will be able to learn a tremendous amount about true patient centered care and see a new aspect of nursing that I have not been exposed to before, this is an incredible opportunity that I cannot wait to start.”

The preceptor-based internship program, in partnership with HopeHealth, is sponsored by Fred Flynn in memory of his wife Susan, who died of ovarian cancer. The Fwlloeship includes a comprehensive scope of observational and direct learning experiences, including exposure to:

• Interdisciplinary teams (roles/responsibilities of nurses, MDs, social workers, pastoral/spiritual caregivers, and other team members; students will attend Interdisciplinary Team rounds and Palliative Care Grand Rounds).
• Pain and Symptom Management.
• Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual Assessment & Holistic Care.
• Inpatient and Outpatient Palliative Care Services.
• Comfort Care (including Emotional and Spiritual care).
• Serious Illness and End-of-Life Communication Skills (including Family Meetings).
• Clinical and Ethical Issues/Considerations.
• Home, Inpatient, Long Term Care/Skilled Nursing Palliative and Hospice care.
• Patient, Survivor, and Family Support Programs.
• Bereavement team and services.
• Self-Care and Resilience (for caregivers).