With the rising incidence of cancer and with more terminally ill patients wishing to be cared for at home, it is clear that there is a growing need for general practitioners (GPs) who are skilled in providing palliative care. In an attempt to improve the palliative care knowledge and skills of GPs in Western Australia and the quality of care they provide, a 14-week training program was developed by the Silver Chain Nursing Association and the Perth South Eastern Division of General Practice. The program used experiential learning techniques, such as a clinical attachment and mentoring. Research has shown that performance-based rather than cognitive education methods have a greater impact on practice outcomes. The program was evaluated by an external body and found to have achieved its objectives. The results of the evaluation are discussed, together with their implications for postgraduate education.

Collaboration is a substantive idea repeatedly discussed in health care circles. The benefits are well validated. Yet collaboration is seldom practiced. So what is the problem? The lack of a shared definition is one barrier. Additionally, the complexity of collaboration and the skills required to facilitate the process are formidable. Much of the literature on collaboration describes what it should look like as an outcome, but little is written describing how to approach the developmental process of collaboration. In an attempt to remedy the all too familiar riddle of matching ends with means, this article offers key lessons to bridge the discourse on collaboration with the practice of collaboration. These lessons can benefit clinical nurse managers and all nurses who operate in an organizational setting that requires complex problem solving.

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