Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]
Introduction Residents report limited end-of-life care training, resulting in negative socio-emotional impacts, burnout, and inadequate patient care. An academic urban county hospital adopted the Death Rounds (DR) conference for residents in the medical intensive care unit as a monthly free-form dis...
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F1000 Research Ltd
2025-01-01
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| Series: | MedEdPublish |
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| Online Access: | https://mededpublish.org/articles/14-31/v2 |
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| author | Lauren Baumgardner Shannon Fang Vidya Krishnan Benjamin Schwan |
| author_facet | Lauren Baumgardner Shannon Fang Vidya Krishnan Benjamin Schwan |
| author_sort | Lauren Baumgardner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction Residents report limited end-of-life care training, resulting in negative socio-emotional impacts, burnout, and inadequate patient care. An academic urban county hospital adopted the Death Rounds (DR) conference for residents in the medical intensive care unit as a monthly free-form discussion to help residents cope with the emotional aspects of caring for dying patients. Our goal was to implement and evaluate a newly structured DR curriculum to help residents further reflect on experiences of caring for dying patients, reduce emotional burnout, and improve physician well-being. Methods Using a mixed-methods design, we conducted a qualitative needs assessment using interviews of residents. DR conference modifications based on the needs assessment include shorter, more frequent sessions; breakout groups; prompts for facilitating discussion; and multidisciplinary facilitators. A pre-post modification survey using the Likert scale was administered to all residents to assess the programmatic changes. Results Pre- and post-modification data were received from 30 and 50 of 116 residents, respectively. A greater proportion of post-test DR attendees reported that DR helped them feel less distressed when caring for dying patients (p=0.018). Among residents who did not attend DR, there was greater agreement in feeling emotionally supported by their team when caring for dying patients (p=0.046). Overall, 81% of post-test respondents agreed DR was worthwhile of their time, and almost all respondents agreed discussing the emotional impacts of patient death is important. Conclusion Death Rounds is a replicable and impactful curriculum that helps residents process the challenges of caring for dying patients and may improve emotional distress and team support. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c7cdeeb511b5443ea0c35e105b091f5f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2312-7996 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | F1000 Research Ltd |
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| spelling | doaj-art-c7cdeeb511b5443ea0c35e105b091f5f2025-01-31T01:00:00ZengF1000 Research LtdMedEdPublish2312-79962025-01-011422336Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]Lauren Baumgardner0Shannon Fang1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5991-0269Vidya Krishnan2Benjamin Schwan3Department of Palliative Care and Hospice, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27514, USASchool of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USASchool of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USASchool of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USAIntroduction Residents report limited end-of-life care training, resulting in negative socio-emotional impacts, burnout, and inadequate patient care. An academic urban county hospital adopted the Death Rounds (DR) conference for residents in the medical intensive care unit as a monthly free-form discussion to help residents cope with the emotional aspects of caring for dying patients. Our goal was to implement and evaluate a newly structured DR curriculum to help residents further reflect on experiences of caring for dying patients, reduce emotional burnout, and improve physician well-being. Methods Using a mixed-methods design, we conducted a qualitative needs assessment using interviews of residents. DR conference modifications based on the needs assessment include shorter, more frequent sessions; breakout groups; prompts for facilitating discussion; and multidisciplinary facilitators. A pre-post modification survey using the Likert scale was administered to all residents to assess the programmatic changes. Results Pre- and post-modification data were received from 30 and 50 of 116 residents, respectively. A greater proportion of post-test DR attendees reported that DR helped them feel less distressed when caring for dying patients (p=0.018). Among residents who did not attend DR, there was greater agreement in feeling emotionally supported by their team when caring for dying patients (p=0.046). Overall, 81% of post-test respondents agreed DR was worthwhile of their time, and almost all respondents agreed discussing the emotional impacts of patient death is important. Conclusion Death Rounds is a replicable and impactful curriculum that helps residents process the challenges of caring for dying patients and may improve emotional distress and team support.https://mededpublish.org/articles/14-31/v2Death and dying palliative care continuing education collaborative/peer-to-peer integrated curriculum terminal careeng |
| spellingShingle | Lauren Baumgardner Shannon Fang Vidya Krishnan Benjamin Schwan Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] MedEdPublish Death and dying palliative care continuing education collaborative/peer-to-peer integrated curriculum terminal care eng |
| title | Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full | Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_fullStr | Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_short | Redesigning Death Rounds: Alleviating distress for residents in end-of-life care [version 2; peer review: 2 approved] |
| title_sort | redesigning death rounds alleviating distress for residents in end of life care version 2 peer review 2 approved |
| topic | Death and dying palliative care continuing education collaborative/peer-to-peer integrated curriculum terminal care eng |
| url | https://mededpublish.org/articles/14-31/v2 |
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