A One DayRetreat for Professional Health Caregivers
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
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Mindfulness, Meditation and
Coping with Death: A One Day
Retreat for Professional Health
Caregivers
Retreat for Caregivers
Mindfulness Meditation
Seeking a creative solution to the "compassion fatigue" of caregivers of critically and terminally ill children and their families, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles PICU Family Centered Care Committee created a daylong retreat for nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, social workers, unit assistants and chaplains caring for severely ill and dying patients.
Drawing on a variety of respected contemporary sources this program of contemplative Mindfulness was developed for use in a one-day format. Since October 2004 the retreat agenda has included experiential exercises, introduction to meditation techniques and relaxation, group support, lunch, and self-care activities engaging participants in a process of transforming their experience of death. The unique surroundings emphasize the non-threatening, safe aspect of Mindfulness, the core of the training.
Predominantly geared for pediatric personnel, the discovery that caregivers of adult patients also found the Mindfulness retreat meaningful and healing has opened the retreat to professionals who care for either children or adults.
Activities
- The contemplative model and mindfulness-based stress reduction
- Guided meditation, non-denominational
- Aspects of suffering encountered in life and death
- Compassionate care
- Exploration of values in caregiving of the dying
- Listening deeply
- Metta meditation
- Self-care
Mindfulness Meditation is a way of paying non-judgmental attention to our moment-by-moment experience. It is a way to effectively deepen our personal practice and work with the stress, physical pain and "emotional overload" that we often have in our daily lives. This meditation practice can assist in living more skillfully, creatively and compassionately. It can help restore and maintain a sense of personal balance.
Benefits
- - Rare opportunity for personal, emotional exploration about death and dying
- - Explicit acknowledgment of spiritual growth and maturation
- - Ongoing development of tools and research in this field
- - Leads to caregivers? competence in dealing with patients and families
- - Facing your own mortality with courage and honesty
- - Promotes increased confidence for being present with grieving families
- - Potential for deeper communication and trust amongst staff and disciplines
- - Cultivating and strengthening beneficial mind states to prevent burnout
- - Increases resilience; helps keep the heart open through ongoing losses on the job
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