Clinician’s Corner: Meeting family care needs during resuscitative procedures and cardiac arrest in the emergency department

Abstract

Emergency nurses in Canada provide care to many thousands of critically ill and injured patients, and their families, each year (Rowe et al., 2020). Unfortunately, some Emergency Department (ED) patients and families report a lack of psychosocial and emotional caring (Gordon et al., 2010). Many resuscitative processes and procedures have been described as dehumanizing and traumatic for families (De Stefano et al., 2016; Jang & Choe, 2019). Significant negative emotional and physiological impacts may remain after hospitalization for the patient and their loved ones, whether receiving care for medical, (Davidson & Harvey, 2016) trauma, (McGahey-Oakland et al., 2007) or cardiac arrest presentations (Leske et al., 2013). Families of patients who survive (and those who do not survive) have reported persistent negative psychological effects weeks and months after receiving care in the ED (Jang & Choe, 2019; Keyes et al., 2014; Sawyer et al., 2020).