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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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
F1000 Research Ltd
2025-01-01
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| Series: | MedEdPublish |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://mededpublish.org/articles/14-31/v2 |
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| Summary: | 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. |
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| ISSN: | 2312-7996 |