Table 2. Responses by position and work setting (n = 107).
| Proportion of respondents agreeing with the statement | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | By position | By work setting | ||||||
| Statement | n/n (%) | Physicians, n/n (%) | Nurses, n/n (%) | p | Outpatient setting n/n (%) | Other setting n/n (%) | p | |
| 1 | I think it is important to contact grieving families | 77/106 (73) | 33/37 (89) | 25/48 (52) | 0.0001 | 40/43 (93) | 30/53 (57) | <0.0001 |
| 2 | Contacting grieving families is important to the family | 92/104 (88) | 37/37 (100) | 36/47 (77) | 0.002 | 43/43 (100) | 41/52 (79) | 0.001 |
| 3 | Contacting grieving families is important to the caregiver (staff member) | 69/104 (66) | 30/37 (81) | 21/44 (48) | 0.001 | 37/43 (86) | 26/52 (50) | 0.0001 |
| 4 | If I contact a grieving familya | |||||||
| It gives me closure, as a caregiver | 72/91 (79) | 29/35 (83) | 27/40 (68) | 0.127 | 35/40 (88) | 30/44 (68) | 0.035 | |
| I am acting professionally | 76/91 (84) | 32/35 (91) | 25/37 (68) | 0.013 | 37/40 (93) | 32/43 (74) | 0.028 | |
| It is according to institutional guidelines | 31/68 (46) | 17/29 (59) | 9/28 (32) | 0.045 | 16/32 (50) | 13/31 (42) | 0.521 | |
| It is an opportunity to say good bye to the family | 77/91 (85) | 31/34 (91) | 30/41 (73) | 0.046 | 36/39 (92) | 34/45 (76) | 0.04 | |
| 5 | I think all grieving families should be contacted | 45/105 (43) | 21/37 (57) | 14/47 (30) | 0.013 | 26/43 (60) | 15/52 (29) | 0.002 |
| 6 | If a grieving family is contacted, it should be done by the following staff membera | |||||||
| Treating physician | 83/92 (90) | 34/34 (100) | 34/41 (83) | 0.011 | 37/38 (97) | 38/44 (86) | 0.075 | |
| Nurse | 63/75 (84) | 22/23 (96) | 29/37 (78) | 0.068 | 27/29 (93) | 32/39 (82) | 0.183 | |
| Social worker | 74/83 (89) | 23/24 (96) | 37/43 (86) | 0.209 | 27/29 (93) | 41/46 (89) | 0.565 | |
| 7 | I prefer not to reveal my feelings in front of a grieving family | 36/103 (35) | 10/36 (28) | 18/47 (38) | 0.315 | 11/41 (27) | 21/52 (40) | 0.172 |
| 8 | I initiate a meeting with grieving family members | 21/98 (21) | 25/32 (78) | 6/45 (13) | 0.324 | 11/40 (27) | 9/50 (18) | 0.281 |
| 9 | If members of a grieving family request to meet me, I agree | 90/101 (89) | 37/37 (100) | 34/44 (77) | 0.002 | 43/43 (100) | 38/49 (78) | 0.001 |
| 10 | I try to view the patient and his family as one unit | 97/106 (92) | 32/37 (86) | 6/42 (14) | 0.243 | 40/43 (93) | 49/54 (91) | 0.685 |
| 11 | I contact all grieving families of patients that I treated | 33/97 (34) | 19/36 (53) | 6/42 (14) | ≤0.0001 | 24/42 (57) | 7/48 (15) | 0.0001 |
| 12 | I contact >50% of grieving families of patients that I treated | 37/90 (41) | 23/30 (77) | 8/42 (19) | ≤0.0001 | 25/35 (71) | 9/47 (19) | 0.0001 |
| 13 | I contact <50% of grieving families of patients that I treated | 34/81(42) | 10/23 (43) | 14/39 (36) | 0.554 | 11/31 (35) | 18/42 (43) | 0.525 |
| 14 | I hardly contact grieving families of patients that I treated | 39/85 (46) | 4/27 (15) | 31/40 (78) | ≤0.0001 | 2/33 (6) | 32/45 (71) | 0.0001 |
| 15 | I think that the preferable way to contact a grieving family is bya | |||||||
| A phone call | 77/88 (88) | 33/34 (97) | 26/35 (74) | 0.007 | 38/39 (97) | 34/43 (79) | 0.011 | |
| A home visit | 30/75 (40) | 8/29 (28) | 16/29 (55) | 0.033 | 8/31 (26) | 20/38 (53) | 0.024 | |
| A letter | 64/85 (75) | 25/30 (83) | 24/37 (65) | 0.09 | 32/39 (82) | 27/39 (69) | 0.187 | |
| 16 | Things preventing me from contacting grieving familiesa | |||||||
| Emotional overload | 52/76 (68) | 16/24 (67) | 27/35 (77) | 0.374 | 15/30 (50) | 33/40 (83) | 0.004 | |
| Lack of time | 50/79 (63) | 17/24 (71) | 20/36 (56) | 0.233 | 19/32 (59) | 26/41 (63) | 0.725 | |
| I do not think it is important enough | 10/69 (14) | 2/22 (9) | 6/30 (20) | 0.281 | 2/30 (7) | 6/34 (18) | 0.185 | |
| I do not have the appropriate tools | 26/68 (38) | 3/20 (15) | 19/32 (59) | 0.002 | 3/28 (11) | 21/36 (58) | 0.0001 | |
| 17 | The period of time I have cared for a patient affects my decision whether to contact the family after his/her death | 74/101 (73) | 31/36 (86) | 31/47 (66) | 0.316 | 34/42 (81) | 36/52 (69) | 0.195 |
| The longer the relationship, the more important it is for me to contact the family after the patient’s death | 80/101 (79) | 33/36 (92) | 30/46 (65) | 0.005 | 38/42 (90) | 37/51 (73) | 0.029 | |
| 18 | The age of the patient is a factor that influences contacting his/her grieving family | 29/101 (29) | 11/36 (31) | 12/46 (26) | 0.655 | 11/42 (26) | 16/51 (31) | 0.584 |
| It is more important for me to contact grieving families of younger patients | 37/102 (36) | 18/36 (50) | 14/48 (29) | 0.052 | 17/42 (40) | 18/52 (35) | 0.559 | |
| 19 | I would like to acquire more tools for coping and contacting grieving families | 59/98 (60) | 16/33 (49) | 32/47 (68) | 0.078 | 20/39 (51) | 36/52 (69) | 0.082 |
| 20 | For those who write letters: writing letters to grieving families is important to me becausea | |||||||
| It gives me closure, as a caregiver | 24/34 (71) | 12/14 (86) | 6/12 (50) | 0.049 | 15/18 (83) | 7/13 (54) | 0.074 | |
| It is the right thing to do, professionally | 27/36 (75) | 12/14 (86) | 7/13 (54) | 0.07 | 16/19 (84) | 9/14 (64) | 0.187 | |
| It is according to institutional guidelines | 14/27 (52) | 8/12 (67) | 3/10 (30) | 0.087 | 8/14 (57) | 5/11 (45) | 0.561 | |
| It is an opportunity to say good bye to the family | 26/35 (74) | 12/14 (86) | 7/12 (58) | 0.117 | 16/19 (84) | 8/13 (62) | 0.146 | |
aRespondents were instructed to respond to all sub-statements.