P0464 / #2041: perceptions of spirituality and spiritual care among proffesional workers at one pediatric intensive care unit (picu)

Aims & Objectives: As providers for the most complex and critically ill children in the hospital, pediatric critical care team will care for children at the end or their lives. Many of the areas of expected knowledge and expertise in critical care are considered skills in palliative care. One of this end-of-life issue is to have cultural awareness and give psychologic, social and spiritual support. The aim of this study was to evaluate spiritual care knowledges by professional workers at one PICU. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study in a university-based tertiary care children’s hospital. 47 PICU healthcare professionals were selected between July and September 2018. A survey with 25 closed questions and 1 open question was designed. Results: The survey included some questions about self-perception spiritual care given and the care model given by the team. 51% was self-considered spiritual and 49% wasn’t. Both groups considered that spiritual care was important or very important as part of their care work. They considered themselves few (61,7%) or nothing prepared (19,1%) for this task. Older workers (>31 years old, 57%) considered themselves less spiritual than younger ones (<30 years old, 43%). People working more than 10 years at PICU (34%) were less spiritual/religious than those who worked less than 10 years (66%). Conclusions: PICU professionals considered that assessment and spiritual care are very important, regardless their religious convictions or spiritual baggage, but they don’t have appropriate training. This study suggests that it’s very important that all PICU team members have the capacity to provide a generalist’s level of spiritual care.