When death precedes birth: experience of a palliative care team on a labor and delivery unit.

BACKGROUND: With increasing recognition and availability of palliative care, interdisciplinary palliative care teams continue to discover novel opportunities to enhance patient-centered care and improve hospital staff satisfaction. As a new palliative care consultation service in a large urban academic tertiary care setting, we found unanticipated palliative care needs on the labor and delivery unit. Women experiencing sudden intrauterine death, and the health care providers who care for them, have unique palliative care needs. CONCLUSION: In some circumstances an interdisciplinary palliative care team, may help to address acute grief and provide ongoing staff support. Case examples of our palliative care team's experience are instructive.

Development and evaluation of an international, interdisciplinary palliative care workshop in Botswana.

AIM: This paper reports the development and evaluation of an interdisciplinary, international palliative care workshop presented in Gaborone, Botswana. METHOD: A 5-day workshop was held in June 2009 at the University of Botswana. Clinicians, faculty, and students from throughout Botswana were invited to attend at no cost. Participants included nurses, social workers, physicians, pharmacists, chaplains and volunteers. Learning activities included lectures, case studies, and group discussion. RESULTS: Evaluation indicated high satisfaction with the workshop and significant, though modest, gains in knowledge and self-evaluation of palliative care skills. Discussion revealed important clinical issues for attendees and underscored the need to coordinate national efforts to enhance palliative care in Botswana. CONCLUSION: The international collaborative palliative care workshop increased the knowledge and commitment of attendees. Additional collaborative efforts to educate providers, coordinate care, and change policies and practices are needed to integrate palliative care fully into health care in Botswana.