Abstract
Anecdotal evidence reveals that bereaved parents often feel cut off from the healthcare community they have come to depend on during an intimate time: the final months or days of their child's life. There is a scarcity of literature that addresses the topic of condolence letters in both adult and pediatric populations. The purpose of this study was to identify what practices are used by nurses trained in end-of-life care for communication with parents after the death of a child. A total of 24 of 40 nurses (60%) who are End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium-Pediatric Palliative Care trainers completed a short four-question Web-based survey regarding their practices in the use of condolence letters and other forms of communication within the population of parents of deceased pediatric patients. Nearly all participants (92%) said they send a sympathy card with a handwritten note, and a majority (58%) called the parents personally. Most participants (67%) felt a sense of closure after sending a card or letter, and 71% reported hearing back from the parents after they have received the card or letter. All of the nurses who responded to the survey used some type of condolence correspondence, and many used more than one form of communication.