The Last Emergency

Dr Natalie Anderson recently delivered a keynote at the 23rd International Conference for Emergency Nurses in Hobart, Tasmania.

The conference theme was Meaningful work, Meaningful place and Natalie argued for the importance of creating space for death, dying and bereavement care in Emergency Departments - environments designed with saving lives in mind.

Care in the last hours or days of life is core and increasing business for emergency care. With populations ageing and living with greater frailty and comorbidities, the number of people near death or dying in emergency care is likely to increase. Rather than seeing all death as a failure to rescue, it’s important to acknowledge that compassionate, skilled care at the end of life can make an important difference to the dying and bereaved.