"You need to be supported": An integrative review of nurses' experiences after death in neonatal and paediatric intensive care.

Autor: Bloomer MJ; End-of-Life Advisory Panel, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Banora Point, NSW, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia; Intensive Care Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia. Electronic address: m.bloomer@griffith.edu.au., Brooks LA; End-of-Life Advisory Panel, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Banora Point, NSW, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia; Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research in the Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia., Coventry A; End-of-Life Advisory Panel, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Banora Point, NSW, Australia; Nursing Research Institute, St Vincent's Health Network Sydney, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne & School of Nursing, Midwifery & Paramedicine, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Department of Nursing, Melbourne School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Carlton, VIC, Australia., Ranse K; End-of-Life Advisory Panel, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Banora Point, NSW, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia., Rowe J; End-of-Life Advisory Panel, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Banora Point, NSW, Australia; Paediatric Intensive Care Unit & Paediatric Infant Perinatal Emergency Retrieval, Royal Children's Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia., Thomas S; End-of-Life Advisory Panel, Australian College of Critical Care Nurses, Banora Point, NSW, Australia; Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Australian critical care : official journal of the Confederation of Australian Critical Care Nurses [Aust Crit Care] 2024 Dec 04, pp. 101149. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Dec 04.
DOI: 10.1016/j.aucc.2024.101149
Abstrakt: Background: The death of a child can have a profound impact on critical care nurses, shaping their professional practice and personal lives in diverse, enduring ways. Whilst end-of-life care is recognised as a core component of critical care nursing practice and a research priority, evidence about nurses' experiences after death in neonatal and paediatric intensive care is poorly understood.
Research Question: What is the experience of the nurse after death of a patient in neonatal and/or paediatric intensive care?
Method: Following registration with Open Science Framework, an integrative review of the empirical literature was undertaken. A combination of keywords, synonyms, and Medical Subject Headings was used across the Cumulative Index Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Complete, Medline, APA PsycInfo, Scopus, and Embase databases. Records were independently assessed against inclusion and exclusion criteria. All included papers were assessed for quality. Narrative synthesis was used to analyse and present the findings.
Findings: From 13,018 records screened, 32 papers reporting primary research, representing more than 1850 nurses from 15 countries, were included. Three themes were identified: (i) postmortem care; (ii) caring for bereaved families; and (iii) nurses' emotional response, which includes support for nurses. Nurses simultaneously cared for the deceased child and family, honouring the child and child-family relationship. Nurses were expected to provide immediate grief and bereavement support to families. In response to their own emotions and grief, nurses described a range of strategies and supports to aid coping.
Conclusion: Recognising neonatal and paediatric critical care nurses' experience after death is key to comprehensively understanding the professional and personal impacts, including the shared grief of a young life lost. Enabling nurses to acknowledge and reflect upon their experiences of death and seek their preferred supports is critically important. Thus, ensuring organisational and system processes similarly align with nurses' preferences is key.
Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors have none to declare.
(Copyright © 2024 Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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