FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2008

BUFFALO, NY – The death of a patient and dealing with the family’s grief are among the most stressful situations encountered by oncology nurses. The Department of Nursing at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has created “Code Gray,” a program that provides emergency emotional support for nurses immediately after a patient’s death.  

Deborah Sendlak, RN, Department of Nursing at RPCI, will describe the new program at the 33^rd Annual Congress of the Oncology Nursing Society, May 15-18, in Philadelphia.

The Code Gray program provides immediate support for the direct care staff within the work environment, rather than the more often delayed support group format. The system involves intervention during the acute phase of grief and provides peer-based support immediately following a patient’s death.

When a death occurs, the charge nurse initiates a procedure that includes emotional assessment of the immediate and follow-up support needs of the nurse involved and time off the unit for the nurse to meet with a member of the multidisciplinary Code Gray support team, or just spend time off the unit.

“The program was named Code Gray for the emotional ‘gray zone’ that pulls nurses between the need to grieve and the need to provide uninterrupted patient care,” notes Sendlak. “When a patient dies, we have to take care of ourselves so we can help the families and also be there for our other patients.”

Evaluation of the Code Gray program has yielded positive feedback in terms of immediacy, quality of support and overall effectiveness.

Kathleen Shanahan, PhD, Department of Psychosocial Oncology, and Deborah Coplin Hall, RN, Department of Nursing, collaborated on this study.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs both nationally and internationally. For more information, visit RPCI’s website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.

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