Browse Items (56 total)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to describe the variables influencing end-of-life care in children and adolescents dying of cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records of 146 children with cancer who died at Children's Hospital were reviewed for…

Context Parents' understanding of prognosis or decision making about palliative care for children who die of cancer is largely unknown. However, a more accurate understanding of prognosis could alter treatment goals and expectations and lead to more…

This paper reports findings from a study conducted in one community health care trust where 62 members of the district nursing team (grades B-H) were interviewed. An adaptation of the critical incident technique was used to determine factors which…

The principle of double effect is used to justify the administration of medication to relieve pain even though it may lead to the unintended, although foreseen, consequence of hastening death by causing respiratory depression. Although a review of…

Nutrition and hydration have long been considered to be life-sustaining therapies that are associated with comfort and relief of suffering. This belief is largely based on our own experiences with the sensations of thirst and hunger, which have led…

BACKGROUND: Discussing end-of-life issues with terminally ill patients is often considered distressing and harmful. This study was conducted to assess whether interviewing terminally ill patients and their caregivers about death, dying, and…

When provided by a skilled, multidisciplinary team, palliative care is highly effective at addressing the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of dying patients and their families. However, some patients who have witnessed harsh death…

Each year in the United States, approximately 50,000 children die and 500,000 children cope with life-threatening conditions. Worldwide these numbers are in the millions.1,2 Such children and their families require comprehensive, compassionate, and…

OBJECTIVE: To identify priorities for quality end-of-life care from the parents' perspective. DESIGN: Anonymous, self-administered questionnaire. SETTING: Three pediatric intensive care units in Boston. PARTICIPANTS: Parents of children who had died…

This statement presents an integrated model for providing palliative care for children living with a life-threatening or terminal condition. Advice on the development of a palliative care plan and on working with parents and children is also…

KIE: The widespread consensus that withholding certain life-sustaining treatments, especially those entailing substantial suffering, is sometimes in a patient's best interest conflicts with our basic instincts when the treatments are food and water.…

OBJECTIVE--To investigate the use and implementation in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) of three levels of restriction of medical intervention: do not resuscitate (DNR), additional limitations of medical interventions beyond DNR, and…

Much of the discussion since the Arthur case has centred round the rights of handicapped infants to medical treatment. Little has centred round the question of how far one person can rightly be required to sacrifice her life for another, when she has…

The Netherlands is one of the very few countries that has guidelines for the practice of euthanasia. Each year there are about 9700 explicit requests for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS), of which approximately 3600 patients are agreed…

OBJECTIVES: The decision to forgo life support is frequently made in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). A group of experts is currently preparing recommendations for guidelines concerning this decision-making process in France. We have performed…

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine how the decision-making process to forgo life support differs between southern and northern European pediatric intensive care units. DESIGN: Multiple-center, prospective study. SETTING: Thirty-nine…

OBJECTIVE: To explore patient-related factors which influence the decisions of pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) caregivers to restrict life-support interventions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: A university-affiliated pediatric ICU.…

Ethical issues in the critical care unit frequently arise in children with neurological problems. These ethical issues frequently challenge our medical management of such cases and can be quite problematic. This article reviews key ethical issues…

Participating in end-of-life decisions is life altering for adolescents with incurable cancer, their families, and their healthcare providers. However, no empirically developed and validated guidelines to assist patients, parents, and healthcare…
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