Support Needs of Staff Following the Death of a Child

The death of a child is a very sad occasion. For clinicians who care for a dying child, the impact may be significant. However, while it is acknowledged that support should be available to clinicians, there is a lack of clarity about how best to support clinicians following the death of a child.  In order to better understand what will facilitate staff wellbeing across the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network (SCHN), we first wanted to understand the degree of impact on staff and what types of support they consider helpful.

Aim

To improve the experience of and access to support services for SCHN clinical staff, who have cared for a child during end of life.

Method
A multidisciplinary working group (representation from Nursing, Medicine, Clinical Ethics, and Social Work) developed a questionnaire to gain insight into SCHN clinicians’ experience of caring for a dying child and to explore their beliefs about the support currently available to them and what types of support they would consider helpful. The questionnaire was distributed to SCHN medical, nursing and allied health clinicians as well as administrative and domestic services staff.