Books support children who have lost loved ones
Kettering General Hospital’s Organ and Tissue Donation Committee has donated 100 books to the hospital’s A&E department and Intensive Care Unit that help children understand what has happened when they lose loved ones.
The committee – which is made up of community volunteers and members of staff connected to organ donation – presented the gifts after noticing that these areas had run low on their stocks of the specialist books.
Intensive Care Unit Sister Angela Waterhouse, who is also a former specialist organ donation nurse, said: “The books can be offered to children and their families where a relative has died and the family are understandably grieving.
“They help explain the dying process in story format in a simple way that is appropriate for children. It is something that can help children, and their loved ones, to start the process of coming to terms with their loss.”
Head of Nursing for Paediatrics, Suminthra Naidu, and Head of Nursing for Urgent Care, Ali Gamby, together said: “This is a lovely gesture by the Organ and Tissue Donation Committee and will help to support children who have lost a loved one. It will be a gesture of support to families at a most difficult time.”
Kettering Organ and Tissue Donation incoming Chair Nicola Lee said: “Bereavement is intimately connected to our work in organ and tissue donation and we are always looking for ways in which we can support the hospital teams who deal with families going through the loss of a loved one. We saw that this resource was running low in the hospital and felt it was appropriate for us to support this donation.”