Design and Implementation of an Interprofessional Death Notification Simulation

Notification of Unexpected, Violent and Traumatic Death: A Systematic Review

“…An article focused on a learning program, called the DNR approach (Brand and Mahlke, 2017 ): it is an educational program useful to facilitate learning, based on practical experiences within peer groups, to strengthen notification skills. Four studies have highlighted the usefulness of role-playing and immersive simulation experiences of the notification process (Schmidt et al, 1992 ; Douglas et al, 2012 ; Shaw et al, 2012 ; Galbraith et al, 2014 ). Two studies have shown notification procedures for law enforcement, in particular police officers, often involved in traumatic death experiences, such as traffic accidents, suicides and homicides (Spencer et al, 1987 ; Brand and Mahlke, 2017 ).…”

“…In general, professionals involved in communicating the death of a person highlighted a lack of sufficient preparation for carrying out the task and the need to acquire more skills for managing the emotional reactions of those who receive the bad news and own emotions (Olsen et al, 1998;Douglas et al, 2013). Considering the target's perspective, the notification task is more commonly associated with reactions such as: emotional trauma, pain, despair, anger, crying, screaming, sadness, aggression, depression, emotional distress, strengthening of significant relationship ties, perception of stigma, social isolation, avoidance of relationships, distress, sense of emptiness, increased heart rate, fainting, cardiac arrest, and nausea (Haglund et al, 1990;Adamowski et al, 1993;Janzen et al, 2003Janzen et al, -2004Hart and DeBernardo, 2004;Scott, 2007;Galbraith et al, 2014;Basinger et al, 2016). Twelve studies dealt in particular with the notifier's emotional experience and a total of 15 studies (Table 2) examined the experience of recipients.…”

Cultural aspects of death notification following cardiopulmonary resuscitation

“…In a study by Mccabe (2014), it showed that the relatives liked to be present during CPR and invasive procedures which in turn, helps to facilitate the grieving process of the relatives (Mccabe, 2014). The participants in the current study did however note the importance of teamwork incorporating all health disciplines as essential in the notification of a death to family members which was also noted in the literature (Galbraith et al, 2014).…”

“…There are currently varying opinions related to the behavioural responses to sudden death which appear to depend on the cultural, social and ethnic background of each family members (Naik, 2013;Socorro, Tolson, & Fleming, 2001). Medical team members including physicians and nurses are responsible for informing family members about the death of a patient, however very few have had any formal training or education on how to inform family members about a patient death (Galbraith, Harder, Macomber, Roe, & Roethlisberger, 2014;Roe, 2012). There currently exists a gap in the current literature on exactly how resuscitation team members interact with family members following a patient's death in Iran.…”

INACSL Standards of Best Practice: SimulationSM Simulation-Enhanced Interprofessional Education (Sim-IPE)

“…B Provide appropriate, team-based structured debriefing and feedback as appropriate for the goal of the simulation. 6,9,10,12,13 Criterion 3: Recognize and address potential barriers to Sim-IPE.…”