The nature and benefits of team-based reflection on a patient death by healthcare professionals: a scoping review

ABSTRACT

This scoping literature review was completed to understand the nature and benefits of team-based reflection on a patient death by healthcare professionals. The review was limited to publications in English between 2006 and 2016 that were identified in the Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE and Web of Science databases. We identified 1450 articles and 19 studies were relevant for inclusion in this review. The published literature is mainly descriptive with no comparative studies. The process of team-based reflection on a patient death by healthcare professionals, using a variety of techniques, can lead to improved emotional well-being and learning for quality improvement. However, there is little evidence for the impact on the care of the family and for future patient care. The need for a structured process for the reflection, with facilitation in a supportive healthcare context, appears to be essential for effective team-based reflection. Further research needs to be performed to ensure that team-based reflection on a patient death by healthcare professionals, meets the needs of practitioners and enhances their emotional well-being, supports learning from practice and leads to improved patient outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Interprofessional-working
• patient-death
• scoping review
• Team-based reflection

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank NHS Education for Scotland for funding this review. We acknowledge Dr Ron Hsu, Associate Professor in Epidemiology and Public Health with experience in healthcare research and medical education for his contributions to this scoping review and Keith Nockels, Learning and Teaching Services Librarian in medicine for his expertise in the management of these studies.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the NHS Education Scotland [C001387];