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Support health care team colleagues caring for dying patients:
- Inform
team members about the imminent death of a patient to increase
sensitivity
and awareness.
- Assist colleagues caring for dying patients by assisting in
the care
and/or management of that colleague’s other patient care responsibilities.
- Offer
colleagues a break or respite following the death of a patient they had cared
for.
Adjust nursing staffing and medical rotation schedules to maximize continuity
of care providers for the dying patient.
Communicate regularly with interdisciplinary team regarding goals of care:
- Develop interdisciplinary rounds.
Establish a staff support group, based on the input and needs of ICU
staff and experienced group facilitators, and integrate meeting times into
the routine
of the ICU:
- Assist colleagues with grieving and feelings of loss after
patients' deaths by formally or informally acknowledging their feelings and
taking time
to engage
in debriefing sessions.
- Ensure that ICU staffing schedules allow for flexibility
and understanding if caregivers become overwhelmed when caring for dying
patients and their families.
Enlist palliative care experts, pastoral care representatives and
other consultants to teach and model aspects of EOLC:
- Develop pathways
to facilitate consultation with palliative care experts, pastoral care representatives
and other consultants to maximize palliative
care.
Facilitate rituals for the staff to mark the death of patients.
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Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care is a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dedicated to long-term changes in health care institutions to substantially improve care for dying persons and their families. Visit PromotingExcellence.org for more resources.
