Because of the acute nature of most neurological events, families are often faced with rapid processing of the illness with little time to realize that their loved one is going to die.

Watching the dying process of patients in acute care settings can be unsettling for both patients’ families and staff. The neurocritical care unit at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, wanted to offer help to families and patients traveling this difficult path. To support this goal, an organized, intentional, and flexible end-of-life intervention was needed. Using subjective data gathered from our neurocritical care staff and client families, we developed a plan of care called “Embrace Hope” to help patients and their families through the dying process. Embrace Hope is a structured multi-disciplinary delineation of end-of-life interactions that include educational and support information to be received immediately or at some point after the patient has died. In this article,...

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