Family Support During Resuscitation: A Quality Improvement Initiative

Despite increasing support for family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation, a review of the literature revealed no published protocols or training curricula to guide hospitals in implementing a family support provider role.

To develop a curriculum and train dedicated resuscitation team members whose role is to provide family support during in-hospital resuscitation events.

An interdisciplinary team developed a 4-hour training session for the family support staff. The session included an introduction to the evidence for family presence during resuscitation and local data on resuscitations. The training was composed of 4 sections: (1) clinical aspects of resuscitation, (2) integration into the resuscitation team and steps for providing family support during resuscitation, (3) responding to families in distress, and (4) self-care practices. Before and after the training session, the participants completed surveys of self-rated knowledge and attitudes toward family presence during resuscitation.

Fifty-nine social workers and 8 spiritual care providers were trained in 2015. There was a significant increase in all rated aspects of knowledge of the family support role and self-care strategies.

Through the creation of an interdisciplinary curriculum, an institution can effectively train health care providers in a new resuscitation team role: the family support provider.