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Pediatric Palliative Care

In Reply To: Inpatient Palliative Care SOP
Next Reply: Re:Re:Inpatient Palliative Care SOP
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Post Re:Inpatient Palliative Care SOP
Author: MaggieEidson
Date: Aug 4, 2011 11:15 am
Hi, the members of our palliative care team are looking into standardizing our approach to handling the death of a patient cared for by our team. Besides offering the counseling from the members of the team, does anyone have a specific standard that they use to follow-up with a family after they have experienced the death of the child? Such as writing a letter, card, making a follow-up phone call with specific comments/questions/advice for the family, or even sending flowers as a condolence from the hospital?
Thanks.
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+ Re:Re:Inpatient Palliative Care SOP (by kellykomatz on 08/04/2011)
Maggie

I assume you are writing from a pediatric palliative care program. Not sure if it is hospital-based, community-based or both.

Our program, Community PedsCare, in Jacksonville FL has both inpatient and outpatient palliative levels of care. Our usual is: 1 - sending a card to the family and other significant caregivers after the death signed by all the team members; 2 - our chaplain keeps a running database and she sends cards within the first year after the child's death on: Mother's and Father's day as appropriate, the child's birthday and then every year for 5 years on the anniversary of the child's death. Our team members will often attend viewings and/or funerals and do make a follow-up phone call and/or visit to the family and siblings as each situation is deemed appropriate. We are then fortunate to be able to transfer the on-going bereavement needs of the family to the bereavement department of our parent hospice - Community Hospice of NE Florida.

Hope this helps.

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