118 The Dying Child: Supporting the Health Care Professionals!

Abstract

Background and aims: Grieving for the dying child seems to carry into the personal lives of most health care professionals. We wish to describe the experiences of healthcare professionals whilst caring for the dying child.

Methods: The data for this study were collected via an email questionnaire given to the paediatric staff at our institution (nurses and doctors).

Results: 26 staff members responded. All had been recently involved in the care of the dying child. Most deaths were expected. Less than 20% of the staff had received any training in end of life care. Half the staff felt that they were unable to support the family or other members of team adequately. 90% of the staff got support from colleagues. 50% had received debriefing following the event. 42% felt that having contact with children in their personal life affected their response to death of a child. Nearly all the staff who had experienced bereavement in their personal life felt that it affected the way they managed end of life care.

Overwhelmingly, all were concerned about getting the process right for the families. They felt having immediate debriefs after the event would be very useful as well a better understanding of the multicultural religious rituals of the families.

Conclusion: Healthcare professionals support the grieving family but also recognize their inadequacy as supporters. Learning end-of-life skills is a matter of on-the-job training for most healthcare professionals. Personal experience of bereavement influences the way we manage end of life care professionally.

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