Children’s hospital launches hospice-friendly programme

DESPITE advances in medicine, over 135 patients attending Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin die every year.

Because the death of a child remains the most challenging experience for health professionals, the hospital has launched the first children’s hospice-friendly programme. The programme, run by the Irish Hospice Foundation, is aimed at improving the culture and care regarding death, dying and bereavement as they affect children, parents and hospital staff.

“The death of a child is the most tragic and devastating experience that a parent or guardian will deal with in life,” said Sharon Hayden, the hospital’s deputy director of nursing. “A child will always be a child to a parent even into adulthood. As healthcare professionals, this is the most challenging experience that we will meet in caring for a sick child and their family.”