What's in this Special Issue

Abstract

In this special issue of Nursing in Critical Care, we place the spotlight on bereavement care in adult, paediatric and neonatal intensive care.It has been our privilege to work with authors whose scholarly contributions to this edition echo and support our quest to raise the profile and importance of this topic. Caring for the critically ill is often defined by advanced knowledge, technical expertise, and physical life support. Yet, despite intensive medical management, the critical care team commonly experience and provide patient and family end of life care. In this collection of papers, various aspects of dying, death, grief and bereavement are critically examined through primary research and case study analyses, both within and beyond the environment of intensive care.The guest editorial by Nancy Kentish-Barnes 1 presents a thought-provoking review of bereavement care in the intensive care unit (ICU) underpinned by research that has helped to develop our understanding of family members' experiences of dying and death.What becomes apparent is the remarkable accumulation of bereavement research by Kentish-Barnes and colleagues to support and inspire evidence-based practice in the ICU. The editorial draws attention to a multiplicity of opportunities and challenges and expands on some of the strengths and weaknesses of current practice and research. Relevant data from primary research portrays methodological diversity when studying the phenomenon of grief and bereavement, and the value of mixed-methods data to inform the art and science of bereavement practice. Kentish-Barnes also informs us of contrasting results; both positive and adverse impacts 186 EDITORIAL bereavement. However, they conclude by recommending further research to explore the psychological impact of cDCD on the grieving process. The second case study paper builds on the theme of transferring critically ill patients home to die. In this scenario, it was a 70-year old critically ill patient, previously diagnosed with metastatic cancer, who wanted to die at home, and the adult critical care team's efforts to fulfil his wish. White 19 shares insights about her and her colleagues' experience in implementing what remains a considerably rare event for most critical care nurses, highlighting the need for careful planning, coordination, interprofessional teamwork, assertiveness, reflection and honest communication with the patient and their family members throughout all stages of the process. Furthermore, the paper uses the concept of safe uncertainty 20,21 to remind critical care practitioners that they need to go "beyond conventional treatment to provide highquality care", 19 (p.236) Indeed, the very challenging nature of transferring critically and terminally ill patients home to die is a quintessential example of patient advocacy and dignity in care, in this case by safeguarding the patient's preferred place of death. Whilst depicting the elements of this complex intervention, this case study clearly illustrates how the values of compassion, commitm...

Using the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model to describe critical care nursing during the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic (2020)

“…It is proposed that health care worker well-being, safety, and minimizing moral distress is paramount, 14 never more so in a major incident or pandemic. In a pandemic such as COVID-19, this must start with adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), for which there are two key considerations: acquisition and training.…”