Developing a Reflective Practice Program to Support Oncology and Palliative Care Staff with Patient Death

Abstract

Background:

Oncology and palliative care staff frequently encounter death yet often lack structured opportunities for reflection following these experiences.

Objectives:

This study asked: How can we develop and implement a reflective practice program for oncology and palliative care staff to support them with patient death? Reflective practice is recognized as a valuable tool to support staff well-being; however, there is limited literature describing how such interventions are implemented in the hospital setting.

Methods:

A participatory insider-action research approach was undertaken to codevelop a reflective practice program. A multidisciplinary Action Research Group collaborated through a series of meetings to codesign the program. The data consisted of contemporaneous notes capturing group discussions on what was needed to develop the program. Thematic analysis was used to identify key ideas and patterns that emerged from these discussions, enabling the group to identify factors required to develop a format to support guided reflection.

Results:

Key themes included the importance of language, timing and location, facilitation and structure, and case selection. The final outcome was a practical, semistructured format for reflective practice sessions for staff to follow as a framework to support reflection and emotional processing in response to patient death.

Conclusions:

Using an insider action research approach, this staff-led project offers an adaptable framework for structured reflection in acute hospital settings and represents an important initial step towards embedding reflective practice into the culture of health care.