Healthcare providers’ responses to the death of a child

Abstract

Caring for children who die may evoke suffering in healthcare professionals that is normal, healthy, and unavoidable. It is acknowledged when practitioners remain ‘vulnerable enough’ in their encounters with children and families and engage in an ongoing self- and team-reflective process their approaches work. In this chapter, a model that illuminates the grieving process of healthcare professionals is presented, along with the functional and dysfunctional patterns that teams develop to cope with the suffering of their own members in death situations. A systemic approach helps expand our understanding and underscores the responsibility of the organization’s leaders to cultivate a work culture which promotes self-care, compassion, learning, and collaboration.