Meeting the Challenges of Perinatal Bereavement Support Through Collaboration and Innovation

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Title: Meeting the Challenges of Perinatal Bereavement Support Through Collaboration and Innovation

Ryman Hall B4 (Gaylord Opryland)
Kathy Kemplin, BSN, RN, EFM-C, RTS, Bereavement, Counselor, St., Elizabeth, Healthcare, Outstanding, Educator, 2012 , Maternal Child Health, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Edgewood, KY

Discipline: Advanced Practice (AP), Childbearing (CB), Newborn Care (N), Professional Issues (PI)

Learning Objectives:
  1. Describe the collaborative processes within a healthcare facility and community partners required to establish a perinatal bereavement program.
  2. Identify members and roles of the interdisciplinary perinatal bereavement team.
  3. Provide tools and resources to support nursing staff in delivering respectful and individualized care of the patient and family who have experienced a perinatal loss.
Submission Description:
Purpose for the program: To better meet the needs of the patient and families experiencing perinatal loss and those of the staff providing care.

Proposed change: Improve and expand the perinatal bereavement program in response to staff, patients and community feedback.

Implementation, outcomes and evaluation:

The perinatal bereavement committee was expanded to include staff from labor & delivery, NICU, mother/baby, genetic counselor, pastoral care and nursing leadership. The committee identified opportunities for improvement in staff education, and the need to increase and improve processes for the respectful and individualized care of patients and babies. The existing process for burial was cost prohibitive for many families and confusing to implement. In response to these concerns, contact was made with the hospital Foundation to identify financial resources to make this service accessible to all families experiencing perinatal loss. We partnered with community resources i.e.; The Alexis Foundation, Linnemann Funeral Home, the HEARTS peer led support group and volunteers to provide improved quality of care and tools. Tools include handmade blankets and hats, memory boxes individualized for gestational age, Preshand carriers for the respectful transport and handling of these babies, and brochures to assist patients and families in their journey through the grief process. Nursing Management provided encouragement and financial support for the development and implementation of education for all nursing staff.

Implications for nursing practice: Demonstration that collaboration within the healthcare system and the community impacts the care we give our patients. Education and quality tools empower nurses to give individualized and respectful care to patients and babies. As a Magnet hospital, St. Elizabeth Healthcare continually focuses on the importance of collaboration and innovation to improve patient care and enhancement of professional growth and development of nurses.

Keywords: Perinatal loss, Bereavement, Collaboration