Undertaking opioid conversions is an expected skill of community palliative care nurses. Despite a general understanding that this is a core skill required, resources to support the learning of new staff with opioid conversions are limited or targeted to doctors.

An internal survey of Eastern Palliative Care (EPC) novice nurses with fewer than 18 months experience revealed that learning opioid conversions caused them a great deal of stress. One hundred percent of nurses at EPC with no previous palliative care experience reported low confidence in their opioid conversions skills and desired more support.

Based on a learning need analysis, EPC developed a learning package to teach opioid conversion to new staff. The package was delivered via a mix of written material and in-person teaching. It included basic principles of opioid therapy, a step-by-step guide to opioid conversion with worked examples, prompts highlighting patient-specific considerations and expanded opioid conversion charts with calculation prompts. The learning tool was accompanied by in person tutorials. In sharing this learning package at the PCA conference we hope to provide a model to assist those who may want to implement similar packages within their own organisation.