Performance of a Scoping Review to Inform Development of an ICU Bereavement Program

Currently, there are no cohesive, dedicated bereavement support programs offered to family members who lose a loved one in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Saskatchewan. This bereaved population has a high incidence of complicated grief and PTSD symptoms (19% and up to 50%, respectively). Post-ICU bereavement has been recognized as a significant gap in clinical care, and the need for more research in this field has been recognized. The goal of this study is to determine what interventions for supporting ICU bereaved families have been reported in the literature, survey the practices of ICUs across Canada to identify what, if any, programs have been implemented, and utilize these findings to inform the development and implementation of an ICU Bereavement Program in Saskatoon

A brain-based definition of death and criteria for its determination after arrest of circulation or neurologic function in Canada: a 2023 clinical practice guideline [Une definition cerebrale du deces et des criteres pour sa determination apres l'arret de la circulation ou de la fonction neurologique au Canada: des lignes directrices de pratique clinique 2023]

This 2023 Clinical Practice Guideline provides the biomedical definition of death based on permanent cessation of brain function that applies to all persons, as well as recommendations for death determination by circulatory criteria for potential organ donors and death determination by neurologic criteria for all mechanically ventilated patients regardless of organ donation potential. This Guideline is endorsed by the Canadian Critical Care Society, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses, Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, the Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation (representing the Canadian Neurological Society, Canadian Neurosurgical Society, Canadian Society of Clinical Neurophysiologists, Canadian Association of Child Neurology, Canadian Society of Neuroradiology, and Canadian Stroke Consortium), Canadian Blood Services, the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, the Nurse Practitioners Association of Canada, and the Canadian Cardiovascular Critical Care Society.</p