Sunday, Sep 26 - Expo Hall Opening
Sunday, Sep 26 - Job Fair
Monday,
Sep 27 - AWHONN's Block Party
Monday, September 27, 2010
: 2:00 PM
Title: Maternal Mortality: First Symptom through the Trial
Venetian
Audio File
Discipline: Professional Issues (PI), Childbearing (CB)
Learning Objectives:
Submission Description:- Review amniotic fluid embolism.
- Identify at least three strategies to survive a medical malpractice suit.
- Describe how knowledge gleaned from this session can be applied to develop a campaign to support the emotional recovery of all care providers involved in an obstetrical emergency.
In my thirty year career as an L&B nurse in a level III hospital that does about 5000 I have sadly lost count of the number and types of unexpected outcomes. The work that has come out in the area of professionals helping grieving clients has been a God-send. An extensive network has emerged, offering support to grieving parents and their families as well as education to empathetic care providers. However, there has not been much information/support available to the caregivers. Besides, many of us are more comfortable offering support rather than seeking or receiving it. We in the health care professions know how others should grieve, but what about us?
Caregivers often receive messages in their training, by society and their experienced peers that they should be able to handle whatever traumatic events occur. The saying that I heard as a new nurse was, “If you can’t take the heat, move from the fire”. Some caregivers wear their traumas as badges of courage. With this type of example being set, it isn’t surprising that intense feelings of bereavement and grief about a patient often seem inappropriate or unacceptable. Caregivers counsel their patients not to expect perfection from themselves and give them permission to grieve, but expect superhuman effort from themselves.
Nearly half of all employee turn-over in a work setting is due to stress. Unusual situations, such as maternal mortality, stillbirth, unexpected placental acreta resulting in massive hemorrhage and hysterectomy, violence in the workplace and more can occur in an obstetrical unit. These incidents often lead to unrecognized and unresolved psychological trauma to survivors, witnesses and personnel. There has long been evidence that critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) can help emergency responders decrease psychological disturbances by as much as 60%. There is emerging evidence that CISC on smaller scale incidents can help employers support their employees who are at risk for critical incident stress and post traumatic stress. As painful as grief is internalized, silent or denied grief is more painful and has increased deleterious effects on healthcare workers. The journey of grief for caregivers has one added, often overlooked, component. That component is critical incident stress (CIS). I cannot think of a more catastrophic, unthinkable aspect of L&B than maternal mortality. Obstetrical lawsuits outnumber all other health care with the largest payout. They can change your life causing anger, fear, shame and anxiety. Health care providers are often referred to as ‘the second victims’. Nurses involved in a suit either went on for higher education to move away from the bedside or left labor and birth.
This session follows a journey through a critical incident showing how it has a life of its own. This session is how one nurse got through it and rather than quitting ob altogether, has strived to make it better for those of us who have the courage and stamina to do this important work: helping families bring new life into the world.
Caregivers often receive messages in their training, by society and their experienced peers that they should be able to handle whatever traumatic events occur. The saying that I heard as a new nurse was, “If you can’t take the heat, move from the fire”. Some caregivers wear their traumas as badges of courage. With this type of example being set, it isn’t surprising that intense feelings of bereavement and grief about a patient often seem inappropriate or unacceptable. Caregivers counsel their patients not to expect perfection from themselves and give them permission to grieve, but expect superhuman effort from themselves.
Nearly half of all employee turn-over in a work setting is due to stress. Unusual situations, such as maternal mortality, stillbirth, unexpected placental acreta resulting in massive hemorrhage and hysterectomy, violence in the workplace and more can occur in an obstetrical unit. These incidents often lead to unrecognized and unresolved psychological trauma to survivors, witnesses and personnel. There has long been evidence that critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) can help emergency responders decrease psychological disturbances by as much as 60%. There is emerging evidence that CISC on smaller scale incidents can help employers support their employees who are at risk for critical incident stress and post traumatic stress. As painful as grief is internalized, silent or denied grief is more painful and has increased deleterious effects on healthcare workers. The journey of grief for caregivers has one added, often overlooked, component. That component is critical incident stress (CIS). I cannot think of a more catastrophic, unthinkable aspect of L&B than maternal mortality. Obstetrical lawsuits outnumber all other health care with the largest payout. They can change your life causing anger, fear, shame and anxiety. Health care providers are often referred to as ‘the second victims’. Nurses involved in a suit either went on for higher education to move away from the bedside or left labor and birth.
This session follows a journey through a critical incident showing how it has a life of its own. This session is how one nurse got through it and rather than quitting ob altogether, has strived to make it better for those of us who have the courage and stamina to do this important work: helping families bring new life into the world.
