St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Institution and Program Description

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is a 912-bed faith-based hospital located in the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical center consisting of 46 not-for-profit institutions. Founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, the hospital anchors the St. Luke's Episcopal Health System and delivers primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary health care to patients from the Houston metropolitan area and from around the world.

St. Luke's Palliative Consultation Service was initiated in 1999 to address the special needs of those patients with life limiting illnesses in St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. Staffed by an interdisciplinary team comprised of two advanced practice palliative care nurses, one palliative care certified nurse, one full time and one part time social worker, one research nurse and one chaplain, who see over approximately 65 patients per month. The varied expertise of the team members enables the consultation service to address the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual issues faced by dying patients and their families.

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and the Palliative Care Service commitment to the hospitals threefold mission of treating the mind, body, and spirit provided us with the ability to remember these families and staff who were still in need even after the patient had died and inspired us to create the bridge to complete the circle of death back to life in our First Annual Palliative Care Memorial Service held November 4, 2007.

Description of Topic

Our hospitals commitment to our threefold mission of treating the mind, body, and spirit provided us with the ability to remember families and our staff who lost loved ones through our Celebration of Life. The First Annual Palliative Care Memorial Service was the bridge created to complete the circle of death back to life.

The Palliative Care Bereavement service is committed to caring for the bereaved family members of our late patients for a year via sympathy cards, monthly phone support, and most recently our memorial service. The memorial service was developed to provide a meaningful place to remember, recognize, and celebrate their loved one's life. The targeted group for the service was approximately 800 families of patients who had died from April 2006 through July 2007. Also included were the families of 19 of our staff members who had died and any staff who had lost a loved one during this time frame. The service was announced through invitations to the families and physicians, hospital-wide fliers, on our hospital's intranet, and in our hospital weekly newsletter.

The service was coordinated using a multitude of different disciplines, hospital volunteer auxiliary, and community resources. A choir made up of hospital staff and directed by a RN case manager led the service in song. Readings for the service, that were appropriate across cultures and faith, were provided by our chaplaincy service. Multiple local hospices donated various services such as refreshments and flowers for the service. The service was led by members of our palliative care team, a physician on staff, and our chief executive officer. As part of the service, a remembrance video, consisting of approximately 850 names and 141 photos of late loved one's, was played at the end of the service.

Impact on Program

Over 500 family members and staff attended our First Annual Palliative Care Memorial Service. It was standing room only. We estimated a 20% attendance and had closer to 65% in attendance.

We received numerous calls and emails from families who expressing their thanks for remembering and celebrating their loved one's.

"My family really enjoyed the ceremony. This was the first time that I have attended a memorial ceremony. Even the young kids were excited when they saw my mother's picture. They were telling the others how much they enjoyed the service."

"I wanted to Thank You for everything you did to make last night a success. My family and I were very moved and glad to take part. I hope this is something you are able to continue to do. Great Job! God Bless You!"

"I've been meaning to drop you a quick line for a week now and apologize for the delay. But I wanted to thank you for your work on the memorial service Sunday, Nov.4, and including our photo of my mother-in-law. The program couldn't have been any better and more meaningful."

"Thank you for the invitation to the memorial service on Sunday, November 4. My friends and I felt it was a very meaningful occasion.

An opportunity to share with others the inevitable grief felt in the loss of loved ones, and at the same time a celebration of their life.

We appreciate the care and thought which went into organizing the event."

"Thank you for a very nicely done service. It was easy to see from the participants how much they valued the ceremony. May God bless you for all the comfort the service brought to all of us."

Increased number of staff using our bereavement program for support during the loss of their own loved ones.

Increased number of managers and directors calling our bereavement program requesting assistance on how to help their employees who are grieving.

Lessons Learned

After the first memorial service are:

• Plan and prepare for more attendance than expected
• Need for wheelchairs to get people from cars to the auditorium
• Need for more water and coffee than expected
• Need to restructure logistics for the act of remembrance - the flower ceremony
• Need for a mic on the director of the choir
• Staff need a place to remember their patients and loved ones