A study of staff support mechanisms within children's hospices

Area of Science:

• Palliative Care
• Healthcare Management
• Staff Well-being

Background:

• Staff in children's hospices provide critical care to dying children and their families.
• Supporting these staff members is essential for maintaining high-quality palliative care.
• Understanding existing support mechanisms is key to identifying best practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the current staff support mechanisms in UK children's hospices.
• To examine individual staff support, such as mentoring and clinical supervision.
• To assess team support strategies, including debriefing sessions.

Main Methods:

• A postal questionnaire was used for data collection.
• The study surveyed children's hospices across the United Kingdom.
• Key metrics included team meetings, debriefs, bereavement counseling, mentoring, and training.

Main Results:

• A 76% response rate was achieved from the surveyed hospices.
• All responding hospices utilized team meetings and had access to bereavement counselors and in-house training.
• 88% of hospices conducted debriefs following significant or traumatic events.

Conclusions:

• Children's hospices demonstrate robust support structures for their staff.
• These findings highlight effective staff care strategies within pediatric palliative care settings.
• The acute care sector can learn from the supportive environments established in children's hospices.