Supporting bereaved healthcare workers.

by Jules Lewis RGN MSc

My name is Jules Lewis and I am a Swan End of Life Care Lead Nurse at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust and PhD Student at Staffordshire University. I am also bereaved by suicide, my beautiful best friend Janet took her own life in February 2019 aged 47, a caring and compassionate friend and nurse for over 20 years.

I set up, with the support from our lead volunteer & our administrator, a staff bereavement support service at the hospital where I work. This intervention includes 1-2-1 support sessions, a safe space to be heard, with compassion, kindness, understanding, support and signposting to other support services as required.

Funding for this service was gained from Health Education England following a successful business case application. This money is used to backfill my hours to allow me to do this work for a few hours per week, and to cover the cost of room bookings to ensure we have a safe space to support staff. We are lucky enough to have a perfect venue on the hospital site but not in the main building. 

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Bereavement support cafes.

We also offer an ongoing peer support group, in the form of staff bereavement support cafes, these run every few months throughout the year.  This support is for all bereaved staff who work at the hospital, it is to support staff with personal bereavement or professional deaths (the death of a person they cared for). This can range from expected, unexpected, traumatic & bereaved by suicide. I am currently supporting several staff who have been bereaved by suicide.

“It has proved more valuable than I ever thought. Just to have the space and time to process and talk about my feelings following my bereavement I have found incredibly helpful.”

Bereavement café attendee    

At the December café each year we have a tree of hope where staff who attend the café and others can write a bereavement memory tag and place it on the tree in memory of their loved one. It remains in our conference centre for several weeks over the Christmas and New Year period.

“Having a safe, secure and confidential person to speak with has really helped me work through some of the difficulties of my recent bereavement.”

Bereavement café attendee

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The aim of my PhD pilot project is to evaluate the effect a bereavement intervention has on healthcare staff’s health and wellbeing.

In addition to our bereavement support we have also set up a walk and talk session, available to all staff, once a month at lunchtime. On a 20–30 minute walk we offer a listening ear and kindness. Signposting to further support as appropriate and required. We aim to encourage staff to get into nature and boost their health and wellbeing.

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Poetry.

I’d like to share two poems by my friend Brendon Feeley. We gift the first beautiful poem – ‘No Judgement Here’ to staff at our bereavement cafes.

Jules Lewis and Brendan Feeley

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No Judgement Here

This is a safe environment.

There is nothing for you to fear.

There is no need to worry.

There is no judgement here.

If you feel you need a friend,

reach out and you will find

this world can be incredible,

with people caring and kind.     

By Brendon Feeley

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This 2nd poem is one that I hope will give nurses and others the hope to get help and support for the future.

Not Today

When the darkness falls around you

and the light has all but gone,

it’s then that you dig deepest

for the strength to carry on.

With the biggest smile you can muster,

stare into the darkness and say,

I’ve bested darker days than this,

and you won’t win today. 

By Brendon Feeley

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Thank you for reading this blog, we hope it makes a difference at the hardest of times.

Best wishes,

Jules and Brendon.

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