Table 1.

The content of the five seminaries in each of the 20 nursing homes

	Theme	Content
Seminar 1	The palliative approach and dignified care	The purpose of this theme is to increase the knowledge and understanding of the values on which palliative care is based, its ethics and manner of encountering the patient.
Seminar 2	Next of kin	The purpose of this theme is to increase knowledge and understanding of the situation and role of the next of kin and to consider how their need of support can better be met.
Seminar 3	Existence and dying	The purpose of this theme is to increase awareness and understanding of own thoughts concerning existence and death with dignity, this in order for the staff to feel secure in difficult conversations with patients and next of kin.
Seminar 4	Symptom relief	The purpose of this theme is to increase understanding of the importance of good alleviation of symptoms in palliative care and to promote the use of validated rating instruments.
Seminar 5	Collaborative care	The purpose of this theme is to bring about an increased understanding of the importance of teamwork, with particular focus on care collaboration between staff, patient and next of kin.