How Primary Care Clinicians Process Patient Death: Logistics, Emotions, and Opportunities for Structural Support.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Navigating the logistics and emotional processing of a patient's death is an inevitable part of many physicians' roles. While research has primarily examined how inpatient clinicians cope with patient loss, little work has explored how primary care clinicians (PCCs) handle patient death in the outpatient setting, and what support resources could help PCCs process loss.

Objective

To explore PCCs' experiences with the logistics and emotional processing of patient deaths and suggestions for supportive resources.

Design

Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews conducted between March and May 2023.

Participants

Recruitment emails were sent to 136 PCCs (physicians and nurse practitioners) at three San Francisco academic primary care clinics. Twel

SUBMITTER: Erickson JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11347538 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature