Bereavement Professional

Hello,

I was curious to see how your agencies may handle post death sympathy cards to bereaved. We currently pass these cards around our weekly, IDG meeting to have staff to sign, but with many deaths, this can be very distracting during team. Have you found other ways for the team to sign this card effectively? We know these mean a lot to patient's families and would like to continue in a more effective way.

Thank you!

Hello,

I was curious to see how your agencies may handle post death sympathy cards to bereaved. We currently pass these cards around our weekly, IDG meeting to have staff to sign, but with many deaths, this can be very distracting during team. Have you found other ways for the team to sign this card effectively? We know these mean a lot to patient's families and would like to continue in a more effective way.

Thank you!

Barbara,  I am having a hard time understanding your post below. If you have 3 deaths a week and you report on 25 deaths, it takes you about 8 weeks to get 25 deaths  so you have an IDT meeting every 8 weeks?

Christine

Our IDT starts at 8:30 am with Bereavement. We have at least 25 deaths per IDT ( there are three a week).

We feel it is important that the whole  IDT team ( CNAs, RN's Vol. Mgr.  MD's, NP's, PA's, Chaplains, Social Workers) process these deaths together to prevent accumulative grief  and staff burn out in our  teams.

Barbara Ingram M.Div.  D. Min.  BCC

Bereavement Coordinator

WellStar Community Hospice

470.245.9959 Office

470.245.9991 Fax

Hello,

I was curious to see how your agencies may handle post death sympathy cards to bereaved. We currently pass these cards around our weekly, IDG meeting to have staff to sign, but with many deaths, this can be very distracting during team. Have you found other ways for the team to sign this card effectively? We know these mean a lot to patient's families and would like to continue in a more effective way.

Thank you!

Hello,

I was curious to see how your agencies may handle post death sympathy cards to bereaved. We currently pass these cards around our weekly, IDG meeting to have staff to sign, but with many deaths, this can be very distracting during team. Have you found other ways for the team to sign this card effectively? We know these mean a lot to patient's families and would like to continue in a more effective way.

Thank you!

Hello,

I was curious to see how your agencies may handle post death sympathy cards to bereaved. We currently pass these cards around our weekly, IDG meeting to have staff to sign, but with many deaths, this can be very distracting during team. Have you found other ways for the team to sign this card effectively? We know these mean a lot to patient's families and would like to continue in a more effective way.

Thank you!

We have three teams and at each one, we discuss anywhere from 5 to 15 deaths, and we discuss around 50-60 patients. The cards are passed around team, and team members sign or write personal messages as they choose. The cards go to the administrator and then are hung in the office for other staff members to sign, until the next IDT, and then a volunteer then helps send them out.

I am having a hard time with the word "distracting" in reference to signing the cards. Is this a message you have received from the team, or is it something you are feeling as you see the cards go around? I have found these cards to be very precious to the families, and I have seen people create a special place for these cards and even reference them during bereavement discussions. I feel that whatever "distraction" or inconvenience that they may cause during team is balanced out by the importance of them; additionally it is the time when the whole team is together.

 I think that there is a tendency for IDT meetings lean towards being concrete and medical based and this can make those of us who are emotionally/psychologically focused feel sidelined. Although it is difficult, I strive to enforce the importance of these emotional based interventions; support staff are important and integral members of the team. Having sympathy and caring for our bereaved is not a distraction, it is the reason for our jobs.

We have three teams and at each one, we discuss anywhere from 5 to 15 deaths, and we discuss around 50-60 patients. The cards are passed around team, and team members sign or write personal messages as they choose. The cards go to the administrator and then are hung in the office for other staff members to sign, until the next IDT, and then a volunteer then helps send them out.

I am having a hard time with the word "distracting" in reference to signing the cards. Is this a message you have received from the team, or is it something you are feeling as you see the cards go around? I have found these cards to be very precious to the families, and I have seen people create a special place for these cards and even reference them during bereavement discussions. I feel that whatever "distraction" or inconvenience that they may cause during team is balanced out by the importance of them; additionally it is the time when the whole team is together.

 I think that there is a tendency for IDT meetings lean towards being concrete and medical based and this can make those of us who are emotionally/psychologically focused feel sidelined. Although it is difficult, I strive to enforce the importance of these emotional based interventions; support staff are important and integral members of the team. Having sympathy and caring for our bereaved is not a distraction, it is the reason for our jobs.

We have three teams and at each one, we discuss anywhere from 5 to 15 deaths, and we discuss around 50-60 patients. The cards are passed around team, and team members sign or write personal messages as they choose. The cards go to the administrator and then are hung in the office for other staff members to sign, until the next IDT, and then a volunteer then helps send them out.

I am having a hard time with the word "distracting" in reference to signing the cards. Is this a message you have received from the team, or is it something you are feeling as you see the cards go around? I have found these cards to be very precious to the families, and I have seen people create a special place for these cards and even reference them during bereavement discussions. I feel that whatever "distraction" or inconvenience that they may cause during team is balanced out by the importance of them; additionally it is the time when the whole team is together.

 I think that there is a tendency for IDT meetings lean towards being concrete and medical based and this can make those of us who are emotionally/psychologically focused feel sidelined. Although it is difficult, I strive to enforce the importance of these emotional based interventions; support staff are important and integral members of the team. Having sympathy and caring for our bereaved is not a distraction, it is the reason for our jobs.