About Us: Palliative Care Team at CU Anschutz

Palliative Care: It’s Not Just Hospice Anymore Team at University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical Campus

Instructors

Hello, I’m Amos Bailey, and welcome to this palliative care course covering core concepts and basic communication skills. Over 30 years ago, I began my career as a medical oncologist and primary HIV/AIDS physician. As I began to understand the complexity of illness and patient suffering, I discovered the importance of palliative care. This work has been deeply meaningful and rewarding to me and has benefited numerous patients and their caregivers in various healthcare settings from hospitals to nursing homes and clinics. Also, I’ve worked on interdisciplinary teams. Later I taught palliative care at the university level. Most recently, I served as the director of the Interprofessional Palliative Care Certificate and Masters of Science in Palliative Care Programs at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. These programs, predominantly online, include in-person communication skills sessions that are aimed at supporting mid-career providers who aspire to specialize in community-based palliative care.

Regina Fink, PhD, APRN, AOCN, CHPN, FAAN is an advanced practice nurse and Associate Professor at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine and College of Nursing and Nursing Co-Director for the Interprofessional Graduate Palliative Care Certificate and Master of Science in Palliative Care Programs. Previously, she has worked as an oncology and pain clinical nurse specialist and a research nurse scientist at University of Colorado Hospital, where she mentored nurses and other professionals on evidence-based practice (EBP), quality improvement, and research projects. A national and international lecturer on pain, oncology, palliative care, and EBP with multiple peer-reviewed publications and books, she has focused her 40-year career on caring for persons with cancer and pain. Research grants include: “Improving Pain Management in Nursing Homes,” “Improving Palliative Care Outcomes for Latinos with Advanced Cancer and Serious Life-Limiting Illness,” and “Improving Advance Care Planning in Colorado.” She conducted a palliative care needs assessment in rural Rocky Mountain hospitals, replicating this work in 15 Middle Eastern countries. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. She received her BSN from Villanova University and earned a MS and PhD in Nursing from the University of Colorado, College of Nursing.

Kelly Arora, PhD is Co-Director of the Master of Science in Palliative Care and Interprofessional Palliative Care Certificate Program. She is also the John Wesley Iliff Senior Adjunct Lecturer in Spiritual Care at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Arora has taught courses on the relationship between spirituality and health at Regis University and at the Regis University School of Pharmacy, as well as courses in interprofessional ethics at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Her passion for spirituality in health care began when she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis over 20 years ago. Arora serves on the board of Centus Counseling, Consulting and Education, and she is a member of the Porter Adventist Hospital Ethics Committee. In addition to teaching, research, publishing and speaking about health and spirituality, Arora maintains a private practice in spiritual direction.

Nancy Robertson, MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN is a faculty member of the Graduate School at the University of Colorado, a senior research assistant for the Palliative Care Research Cooperative and a mentor for community based Palliative Care nurse practitioners. I have lived in Colorado for 21 years. I am flattered and honored to be part of the team that is creating this exciting new Interdisciplinary Masters of Science of Palliative Care and Interprofessional Palliative Care Certificate Programs. She graduated with a BSN from Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA. Following two years as an RN at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, she relocated to Scottsdale, AZ where she assisted in the opening of the new Mayo Clinic facility. After ten years in plastics/reconstructive and hand surgery at this esteemed institution, she moved to Denver, CO. By the end of 1999, she had completed her MSN graduate studies and was practicing in Internal Medicine, focusing on geriatrics and chronic disease. In 2011, she was recruited to help a local agency begin their community based palliative care program. Robertson completed the palliative care certification course at the University of Colorado at the same time and passed the certification exam in 2014. In addition to her responsibilities at the University of Colorado, she started a mentoring service in an attempt to help with the severe palliative care workforce shortage our country is facing. She is an active member in the Hospice & Palliative Care Nurses Association currently serving on its APN council, a member of the American Nurses Association and the local Colorado Nurses Association in the Advance Practice group. Robertson presented a poster at the annual CAPC conference in San Antonio, TX on the topic of mentoring in the community. “We love Colorado and all the outdoor activities it affords us but are always up for a beach trip!”

Maurice Scott, MD is a Board Certified Family Medicine physician, a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). Dr. Scott practices with the University of Colorado Palliative Medicine Service that is accredited by the Joint Commission. Dr. Scott is on faculty with the University of Colorado School of Medicine – Internal Medicine.