Domain 7 – Emotional & Organizational Support for ICU Clinicians
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.
Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care was a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dedicated to long-term changes in health care institutions to substantially improve care for dying people and their families. |