Code Lavender Pilot: An Emotional Support Intervention for Intensive Care Unit Staff

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Clinical Psychology
• Spiritual Care

Background:

• Healthcare staff experience significant distress, leading to attrition.
• On-demand support systems are crucial for mitigating this distress.
• Healthcare chaplains offer specialized support within their professional scope.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness of a Code Lavender protocol.
• To assess the cost-effectiveness of this intervention.
• To determine if chaplain support can mitigate healthcare worker distress.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study was conducted to implement the Code Lavender protocol.
• The protocol incorporated chaplain support and stress-relief items.
• A post-hoc analysis evaluated the cost-effectiveness of the protocol.

Main Results:

• The Code Lavender protocol demonstrated high acceptability among healthcare staff.
• The protocol was found to be feasible to implement in a healthcare setting.
• Effectiveness in mitigating distress and cost-effectiveness were confirmed.

Conclusions:

• The Code Lavender protocol, utilizing healthcare chaplains, is an acceptable, feasible, and effective intervention.
• This approach offers a simple, on-demand support system to reduce healthcare worker distress.
• The specialized skills of chaplains are valuable in providing essential support and reducing staff attrition.