The death of a loved one in the intensive care unit may cause prolonged grief, social distress, and even symptoms of posttraumatic stress in family members. End-of-life interventions, such as grief education materials, telephone follow-up, and cards, are an important part of bereavement care for families. However, use of these interventions varies across institutions, and research findings on their effectiveness are conflicting.
Takaoka and colleagues examined the use of multiauthored, customized handwritten sympathy cards mailed to families 2 to 8 weeks post mortem. They interviewed family members and clinicians and identified 3 themes:
The use of personalized, written condolences from staff was experienced as a meaningful and compassionate intervention for bereaved families.
See Article, pp 422-428
Pressure injuries occur twice as often in intensive care unit (ICU) patients as in other acute care patients, with estimated costs of care exceeding $26.8 billion in the United States. Although there are known...
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