Nurses At South Shore Hospital Create Way To Honor Lost Patients

BAY SHORE,NY —After a tough year of treating sick patients and sadly, losing some, nurses in the South Shore University Hospital Emergency Department decided to find a way to recognize the impact the losses have on health care workers.

A group of emergency room nurses created a program they called "The Pause," using "Pause Cards" designed to honor patients who passed away.

They "joined together to change the repetitious cycle of emotional exhaustion, burnout, and compassion fatigue associated with patients passing away," Miriam Sholder, a Public Relations Advisor at Northwell Health, told Patch.

The nurses hand out the Pause Cards to fellow staff members to honor patients that were lost to
"offer staff a moment to slow down, step back and pause to reflect on what just transpired," Sholder explained.

The cards are placed on the staff badges so others can acknowledge the loss.

The Emergency Department team won Northwell Health's Healthy Work Environmental Challenge and so the program will be expanded across the healthcare system.

The program began in March 2020 when the pandemic was creating stress in health care workers that over half reported as being "unreasonable."

"Taking a pause to honor a patient who has passed has proven to help members of the care team cope with loss, offer closure and ultimately, reduce workplace stress," Sholder reports.

After the Pause program was implemented 33% percent of staffers said their stress levels that decreased and many agreed with a survey statement that by using the cards: "I leave the room of an expired patient feeling closure."