Healing Hearts with Time and Talent

Purpose for the program: Nurses working in the maternal-child specialty are most challenged by our bereaved families because they are the most vulnerable and needy in our care. Appropriate intervention with memories can promote healing. Nursing interventions need to focus on assisting families make meaning of their loss by changing their professional help from protective to supportive. Creation of a program that finds ways to link time & talent offered by community members with needs of loss families can be a win-win situation that benefits both populations.

Proposed change: The bereavement council from one LDR unit, with about 200 losses a year, found difficulty with maintaining supplies for patient memory boxes. This group of nurses recognized the need to discover new resources to help. Their vision was to enlist the aid of community groups and individuals looking to volunteer but needing direction linking the supply and demand from those that wanted to give to those in need.

Implementation, outcomes and evaluation: Over the last 5 years, members of the bereavement council have uncovered numerous unknown resources. A local DJ started a program that provided an opportunity for listeners to make blankets and hats. A retired L&D nurse joined forces with fellow stitchers to create hand-smocked dresses. Teenagers needing to earn community service hours, scout troops and local churches have taken on projects such as decorating memory boxes and painting wooden ornaments. Several local photographers have joined a national organization that offers families a photo session with their infant at no cost. The result of our community out-reach program has been an increase in our available items giving nurses the ability to personalize memory items for our families. Regular feedback with volunteers is offered through email and phone calls of what works and what doesn’t to more personalize our care.

Implications for nursing practice: A renewed commitment to excellence is evident as our nursing staff delivers interventions that provide meaning to the tragedy of death, create a positive memory and facilitate healing to parents who take home only a memory box. Many who give of themselves have shared stories that by helping others, they have healed themselves through their own perinatal loss never recognized. Passion has been ignited in those who have the opportunity to help supply memory box items, evidenced by the generosity of community members and the beauty of the work donated.

Keywords: Bereavement, Stillbirth, Memory box, Healing, Grieving