An Integrative Review of "The Pause" After Patient Death

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Interventions
• Occupational Health Psychology

Background:

• Healthcare professionals face high-stress environments with potential for patient death.
• Work-related stress is a significant concern for nurses and other healthcare providers.
• Existing interventions aim to mitigate stress, including The Pause, a brief silence after patient death.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an integrative review of The Pause intervention.
• To investigate the utilization of The Pause in healthcare settings.
• To examine the impact of The Pause on healthcare providers and their work environments.

Main Methods:

• An integrative review methodology by Whittemore and Knafl was employed.
• Literature search across seven databases in 2022 identified seven relevant studies.
• Content analysis was used to identify emergent themes from the selected studies.

Main Results:

• Two primary themes emerged: personal benefits and professional benefits.
• Findings indicated positive impacts on self-care and grief processing for individuals.
• The intervention was associated with improvements in the overall work environment.

Conclusions:

• The Pause is a low-cost, low-risk intervention with organizational implementation potential.
• It can contribute to reducing burnout and unresolved grief among healthcare staff.
• The intervention may enhance resilience, retention, and potentially patient outcomes.