An exploration of managing emotional labour and maintaining professional integrity in children's hospice nursing

BACKGROUND

Research exploring nurse-parent relationships in children's hospices is rare.

AIM

To investigate how children's hospice nurses manage emotional labour and professional integrity in their long-term relationships with parents.

METHODS

A purposive sample of six children's nurses, from hospices across England, recorded audio diaries and participated in telephone interviews. Narratives were thematically analysed.

FINDINGS

Three overarching, cross-cutting themes were identified-purposeful positioning; balancing personability and professionalism; coping with and counterbalancing emotional labour. All themes were indicative of and/or built upon emotional intelligence constructs, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, appropriate (managed) empathy, social skills and intrinsic motivation. Innate features of children's hospice work were important for perpetuating intrinsic motivation and satisfaction.

CONCLUSION

This study provided an insight into the management of emotional labour and professional integrity by experienced children's hospice nurses. The identification of emotional intelligence skills merits further exploration in this environment, as well as other children's palliative care settings.

Why is corneal donation so rare in children's hospices? A survey of multidisciplinary team members attitudes, knowledge, practice, and experience

BACKGROUND

Corneal donation is a rare event among pediatric patients dying in children's hospices in Italy. Previous research suggests that lack of knowledge and negative attitude of Health Care Professionals (HCPs) are the most relevant factors for low donation rates in hospice, rather than patient ineligibility or public refusal. We conducted a national survey to explore children's hospice staff's knowledge and attitude toward corneal donation, to survey HCPs confidence in discussing the subject with patients and families, to investigate whether staff members receive specific training about corneal donation and its potential impact on the willingness to raise the topic with patients and families.

METHODS

An anonymous web-based survey with multiple-choice responses was delivered to the team members of seven Italian children's hospices to test their knowledge and attitude about corneal donation.

RESULTS

Of the seven children's hospices approached, four agreed to participate with a response rate of 48.5%. Among respondents, 70% declared that they had not received specific training about corneal donation. Results of statistical analysis showed that there were no significant differences in responses between trained and non-trained staff and among the different professionals (nurses, doctors, psychologists, AND social workers) regarding confidence in discussing the subject with patients and families.

CONCLUSIONS

In our sample of HCPs working in Italian children's hospices, there was no difference in self-reported trust between professionals who reported receiving specific cornea donation training and those who did not. It is remarkable that training on corneal donation was endorsed by a minority of the sample.