Some hospitals have now completed a year of research in the LIGHT Project. These hospitals move on to the second phase after two years and to the third phase after eight. In these two phases, the goal is to examine how the experienced event is stored in memory and the changes in the sense and meaning of life, compared to the control group, which has also been given a second chance at life but has not experienced a near-death experience (NDE).
Research requires daily commitment. Maintaining curiosity and motivation is key to progress, as in any project. As new challenges arise, it is important not only to address them but also to learn from them to improve the process. Collaboration and effective communication within the team also play a crucial role in the success of the research.
How can we keep morale high and ensure data is kept as up-to-date as possible despite the demanding workload? This is the challenge of our study.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Mª Ángeles de Miquel from Bellvitge Hospital in Barcelona, who retired in December, as well as to Dr. Nuria Camino from La Milagrosa Hospital in Madrid.
We kindly ask the Principal Investigators (PIs) to motivate their teams, coordinate data collection, and ensure its inclusion in the CRD (Case Report Form). When the same person consistently handles this task, data entry tends to be more systematic and precise. However, this can also be a challenge, as the high demand of patient care sometimes leads to delays, causing a backlog of unentered cases that become difficult to manage.
To maintain motivation and ensure that data remains updated even in a highly demanding clinical environment, we could consider the following strategies:
- Establish routines or, rather, systematize: Create a regular schedule for data updates.
- Assign responsibilities: Designating specific individuals for data collection and updating can help distribute the workload and ensure everyone is involved. Residents often have many on-call shifts and spend limited time in a department, whereas nursing staff, being highly efficient and closely connected to patients, play a key role.
- Integrate updates into clinical processes: A weekly communication between the sponsor (Icloby) and the PI of each hospital can ensure that data updates become part of the weekly workflow, preventing them from feeling like an additional burden.
- Continuous training: Providing education on the importance of data and how to keep it updated can increase motivation and commitment. The Foundation has staff readily available to answer technical questions, such as Dr. Bárbara Vento and Dr. Jose Morales, who stay in weekly contact with the research hospitals.
- Celebrate achievements: Recognizing efforts and accomplishments in data updates can help maintain motivation
- Use visual progress tracking: Presenting graphs showing the evolution of hospital participation, the number of resuscitated cardiac arrests, and the number of patients who had perceptions during cardiac arrest can inspire the team by demonstrating the impact of their work.
- Foster a sense of community: Organizing annual meetings for all teams to connect, share experiences, address questions, and streamline processes can help team members feel part of a larger group rather than working in isolation.
Implementing these strategies can help keep morale high and ensure data remains updated without compromising the quality of patient care.
Heartfelt thanks to all the teams from the different hospitals!
Dr. Luján Comas
Presidenta de ICLOBY