Abstract
Debriefing after critical events can benefit individual healthcare workers and create a healthier work environment within the interdisciplinary team. The desire to participate in interdisciplinary debriefing (IDD) among healthcare workers has been expressed in previous studies. However, it may be difficult for workers to debrief without strong, hospital-wide support.
Purpose: A pilot study was conducted, intended to introduce and measure the feasibility of a new modality to deliver IDD, “Code Lavender.” The new process was aimed at addressing a known barrier to IDD by offering hospital support.
Methods/Implementation: IDD was implemented in 3 ICU settings over a 3-month period. Code Lavender was created within the I-mobile system, acting as a hospital-wide alert. The alert served 2 purposes: a) to notify the involved staff that the debriefing will occur, and b) to alert designated units to send one nurse or leader to the impacted unit to monitor patients while the impacted staff debrief. A structured, 10-minute debriefing took place.
Results: Over the 3-month implementation period, 2 debriefings took place. Code Lavender was initiated once, and resulted in 3 doctors, 1 nurse leader, 2 physical therapists, and a supervisor who responded to support the unit. The care team held the IDD as planned after each critical event. A total of 9 nurses and 1 physician participated during those 2 IDD sessions. Participants found IDD helpful and wished to continue participating.
Limitations: There were only 2 debriefings over the 3-month study period. Due to small sample size and lack of IDD sessions, generalization of the study findings is limited. Despite the desire, challenges were identified and resistance to participation was observed, related to the acuity of the impacted unit.
Implications: Code Lavender is a feasible intervention that can help support a healthy work environment. IDD may give staff an opportunity to address emotional concerns and reflect on the experience for their personal and professional development, which can benefit the entire care team. However, barriers to IDD should be addressed, including the requirement of Code Lavender as a standard hospital-wide policy. The continuation of Code Lavender is currently under review by an interdisciplinary team within the facility. Further study is recommended in a larger capacity to evaluate the value of Code Lavender in relation to burnout and teamwork, which can impact a healthy work environment.
Notes
Bohman, A., Hanks, J., & Carr, A. (2023). Improving long-term sustainability for a pediatric acute care emergency event debriefing process. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 37 (4), 456. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2023.04.007
Cantu, L. & Thomas, L. (2020) Baseline well-being, perceptions of critical incidents, and openness to debriefing in a community hospital emergency department clinical staff before COVID-19, a cross-sectional study. BMC Emergency Medicine, 20 (82), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873020-00372-5
Copeland, D. & Liska, H. (2016). Implementation of a post-code pause. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 23 (2), 58-64. doi:10.1097/JTN.0000000000000187
Nadir, N., Bentley, S., Papanagnou, D., Bajaj, K., Rinnert, S., & Sinert, R. (2017). Characteristics of real time non-critical incident debriefing practices in the emergency department. West J Emergency Medicine, 18 (1), 146-151. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2016.10.31467
Nerovich, C., Derrington, S. F., Source, L. R., Manzardo, J., & Manworren, R. C. B. (2023). Debriefing after critical events is feasible and associated with increased compassion satisfaction in the pediatric intensive care unit. Critical Care Nurse, 43 (3), 19-28.
Wolfe, H. A., Wegner, J., Sutton, R., Seshadri, R., Niles, D. E., Nadarni, V., Duval-rnould, J., Sen, A. I., & Cheng, A. (2020). Cold debriefings after in-hospital cardiac arrest in an international pediatric resuscitation quality improvement collaborative. Pediatric Quality and Safety, 5(4), e319.10.1097/pq9.0000000000000319
Sigma Membership
Theta Tau
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Workforce, Instrument/Tool Development, Interprofessional, Interdisciplinary
Recommended Citation
Souther, Shannon; Lee, Eunyoung; and Staykova, Milena, "Introduction of Code Lavender to Support the Well-Being of Clinical Staff After Critical Events" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 23.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/23
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Introduction of Code Lavender to Support the Well-Being of Clinical Staff After Critical Events
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Debriefing after critical events can benefit individual healthcare workers and create a healthier work environment within the interdisciplinary team. The desire to participate in interdisciplinary debriefing (IDD) among healthcare workers has been expressed in previous studies. However, it may be difficult for workers to debrief without strong, hospital-wide support.
Purpose: A pilot study was conducted, intended to introduce and measure the feasibility of a new modality to deliver IDD, “Code Lavender.” The new process was aimed at addressing a known barrier to IDD by offering hospital support.
Methods/Implementation: IDD was implemented in 3 ICU settings over a 3-month period. Code Lavender was created within the I-mobile system, acting as a hospital-wide alert. The alert served 2 purposes: a) to notify the involved staff that the debriefing will occur, and b) to alert designated units to send one nurse or leader to the impacted unit to monitor patients while the impacted staff debrief. A structured, 10-minute debriefing took place.
Results: Over the 3-month implementation period, 2 debriefings took place. Code Lavender was initiated once, and resulted in 3 doctors, 1 nurse leader, 2 physical therapists, and a supervisor who responded to support the unit. The care team held the IDD as planned after each critical event. A total of 9 nurses and 1 physician participated during those 2 IDD sessions. Participants found IDD helpful and wished to continue participating.
Limitations: There were only 2 debriefings over the 3-month study period. Due to small sample size and lack of IDD sessions, generalization of the study findings is limited. Despite the desire, challenges were identified and resistance to participation was observed, related to the acuity of the impacted unit.
Implications: Code Lavender is a feasible intervention that can help support a healthy work environment. IDD may give staff an opportunity to address emotional concerns and reflect on the experience for their personal and professional development, which can benefit the entire care team. However, barriers to IDD should be addressed, including the requirement of Code Lavender as a standard hospital-wide policy. The continuation of Code Lavender is currently under review by an interdisciplinary team within the facility. Further study is recommended in a larger capacity to evaluate the value of Code Lavender in relation to burnout and teamwork, which can impact a healthy work environment.
Description
Debriefing after critical events has many benefits, including better emotional management and a stronger sense of team unity. As part of a hospital-wide project, a pilot study was conducted to introduce innovative interdisciplinary debriefing modality, “Code Lavender,” aiming to build a healthier work environment. In this session, “Code Lavender,” an innovative modality to facilitate IDD, will be introduced step by step. The challenges and lessons learned will be discussed.