What can my organisation do?
Enable opportunities for self-care planning under staff wellbeing initiatives.
Promote the availability of Nurse & Midwife Support for all nurses and midwives, nursing and midwifery students, employers, educators and concerned family and friends.
Promote access to counselling services.
Consider clinical supervision as a formalised support for staff. The Palliative Care Bridge has information: clinical supervision - caring for the care provider.
Create structured opportunities for staff to use reflective practice.
Consider creating either formal or informal teams of allied health professionals assisting patients in their palliative care for debrief and inter-professional support - particularly for rural and remote practitioners e.g. GP, nurse, counsellor, psychologist, dietitian.
Monitoring for signs of burnout may be useful for palliative care team leaders, useful tools could include the Maslach Burnout Inventory (subscription required).
Remember that staff providing at home support may be working in isolation and it is important to provide them with an opportunity to meet and de-brief.
In line with Standard 9.6 of the Palliative Care National Standards (2018), provide education and training to staff in self-care strategies and how to access support.
Support of the workforce is required within the Aged Care Standards. Check out the In Focus article series on the Aged Care Standards.