HS158: Sudden death in an Emergency Department: Exploring Relatives and Staff Experiences of End of Life Care in the ED

The Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southampton, working in partnership with University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, is offering a part-time Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship for a qualified nurse.

This is an exciting opportunity and will enable you to combine clinical practice with a research role. You will work with your nominated clinical mentor and academic supervisors to develop your clinical academic role in both practice and university settings. You will join a thriving and expanding group of Clinical Doctoral Research Fellows using the purpose built Clinical Academic Facilities.

There has been a recent focus on improving end of life health care. Much of this focus has rightly been on facilitating a dignified death at home, in a hospice or hospital ward environment. Within the Emergency Department (ED), sudden death is not an infrequent occurrence. The number of deaths within the ED at University Hospital Southampton ranges from 176 – 198 per year (2013-2015), approximately 0.2% of attendances. Within this group deaths for <16 range from 4-7 per year (2013-2015). The causes of death include acute illness, exacerbation of long term conditions as well as Major Trauma. The ED is not a destination for planned death. For the majority of patients who die in the ED, it is a sudden and unexpected event, they may have left home that morning saying goodbye to loved ones expecting to return that evening, but sadly they do not. Although best practice guidelines have been written by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine for end of life care in the ED (RCEM, 2015), we know little about the relatives or staff experience of sudden death within this care environment.

This study will explore relatives and staff experiences of end of life care in the ED. The findings of this study will inform our approaches to care of patients, relatives and staff. For staff we will gain a better understanding of their education and preparation for this role and the impact of these deaths and ‘breaking bad news’ on them. Gaining a greater understanding of relatives’ experience will help inform our approach to end of life care, including provision of physical, emotional and spiritual support. Importantly, we will gain a greater understanding of the impact of ‘breaking bad news’ and what relatives remember from the conversations.

Please use the following link for information about our project in collaboration with University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and instructions of the entry criteria and how to apply: http://jobs.uhs.nhs.uk/job/UK/Hampshire/Southampton/University_Hospital_Southampton_NHS_Foundation_Trust/Emergency_Department/Emergency_Department-v712551?_ts=3427