Health Care Professionals’ Views and Practices Regarding Bereavement Support

Background Because the death of a loved one is distressing for families, bereavement support is recommended for high-quality end-of-life care. Although health care professionals provide support during the death, many do not routinely follow up with bereaved families. Objectives To describe and compare how health care professionals view and provide bereavement support. Methods This prospective, cross-sectional study assessed registered nurses, physicians, social workers, respiratory therapists, and unlicensed assistive personnel working in the intensive care unit, step-down unit, and emergency department. Health care professionals completed a survey assessing their views, practices, and training in providing bereavement support to families. Descriptive statistics and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to describe and compare the groups. Results Among 123 health care professionals, 67.5% were registered nurses and 78% were female. Most (64.2%) supported families at the time of death; however, only 6.5% followed up with bereaved families in the weeks after the death. Physicians, social workers, and registered nurses provided bereavement support more often than unlicensed assistive personnel and respiratory therapists did (P = .001). Only 29.3% were very comfortable providing support to bereaved families. Respiratory therapists were less comfortable than other health care professionals (P = .002). Most health care professionals (54.5%) wanted formal training on providing bereavement support. The main barriers to providing bereavement support included lack of training, time, and resources. Conclusions Understanding health care professionals’ views and practices on providing bereavement support may help inform the development of appropriate educational materials, interventions, and protocols around bereavement support.