What happened?
Anika’s patient was receiving end-of-life care. The parents were struggling to accept their child was going to die.
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The consultant, Rupert, wanted the child to come off the ventilator to die peacefully but the parents disagreed and wanted to keep their child on the ventilator.
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Anika was the bedside nurse and could understand both perspectives.
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Anika wanted to do the right thing for the patient but was caught in the middle.
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Anika agreed with Rupert, but didn’t feel confident communicating this decision to the parents because discussing palliative care was new to her.
And then?
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On Anika’s break, she spoke to a consultant, Carole, about the position she found herself in.
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Carole had been on an advanced communication course for staff working in Paediatric Critical Care.
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Carole said the course helped her with how to support parents and what to say to them.
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Anika decided to find out more about the course.
How to improve
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Being aware of others experiencing moral distress in Paediatric Critical Care, and for the employer to recognise the significance of this kind of experience.
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Normalise the likelihood of moral distress and encourage staff to share their experiences.
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Ensure staff know they can seek support – through peer support programmes, with their line manager, from a psychologist or wellbeing lead.
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Recognise the need for advanced communication skills to support family members sensitively.