This story began when Alex and Molly became House-Wide Shared Governance unit representatives at Houston Methodist Willowbrook. After attending a shared governance meeting highlighting the gap in bereavement support for loved ones, our group felt passionate about filling that gap for our patient’s loved ones. It was an opportunity to impact the unit and the entire acute care setting at Houston Methodist Willowbrook. Since one of the requirements of the graduate nurse residency program is that everyone has to complete an evidence-based project, we looked at the literature to begin our project on bereavement support.

As a group, we worked hard to create a Bereavement Brochure for families after a loved one has passed. We collaborated with our leadership, spiritual care, unit nurses, and palliative care to create a brochure specific to our population. We made sure to include what we felt was the most essential information families would need after the passing of a loved one. We were fortunate to be able to present the project to the House-Wide Shared Governance. The positive feedback we received from our colleagues and leadership was incredible. We could see our project operationalized and the confidence it gave nurses in helping patients’ loved ones walk through the bereavement process. The outcome of our project quickly grew beyond what we imagined. Leadership endorsed the project, and the brochure has gone on to marketing to become an official tool at Houston Methodist Willowbrook. We hope it will later become a system-wide resource.

After the presentation, we submitted an abstract to Vizient, who accepted the project. We had the opportunity to attend the Vizient Conference and present a poster. Alex and Molly participated in the conference this past March in New Orleans, where we exhibited our project and networked with nurses nationwide. It was eye-opening to see how Houston Methodist truly is leading medicine nationally. We were aware of the care and resources Houston Methodist provides. Still, being at the conference, we could see it from a different perspective. Our presentation was awarded first place at the conference. We proudly represented Houston Methodist by attending the Vizient conference and sharing our experiences. It was a gratifying experience, and we were honored to win this award for Houston Methodist.