End of Life Outside of "Business Hours": A Retrospective Review Evaluating Time of Death and Provider Time at End of Life.

End of Life Outside of "Business Hours": A Retrospective Review Evaluating Time of Death and Provider Time at End of Life.

Hardy-Gomez M; Grossoehme DH; Strasshofer D; Brown M; Friebert S

Journal Of Palliative Medicine

2021

2021-07-01

Introduction: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) benefits patients and families, while potentially creating emotional and resource-management burdens for providers. This study's purpose was to characterize the occurrence of deaths attended by PPC providers outside of "business hours." Methods: N = 786 PPC patients at a single center died between 2008 and 2015. Descriptive statistics were prepared for all variables (Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous; chi-square or Fisher's exact test for categorical). Results: N = 434 (55%) of deaths occurred outside of business hours; n = 332 (70%) were attended by PPC. Time spent attending a death was not significantly longer when other PPC providers were present but was when certain tasks were performed (coordination with medical examiner and memory making). Conclusion: The occurrence of the majority of deaths outside of business hours has significant implications for service delivery models, provider emotional health, and health care value.

palliative care; pediatric; physician; compassion fatigue; advance practice nurse; OF-LIFE; PEDIATRIC PALLIATIVE CARE

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journalArticle

1557-7740

NEOMED College of Medicine

Department of Family & Community Medicine

Department of Pediatrics

July 2021 List