BACKGROUND: Mortality and end-of-life decision-making can occur in newborns, especially within the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For parents, participating in end-of-life decision-making is taxing. Knowledge is lacking on what support is helpful to…
BACKGROUND: Despite technological advances and specialist training of neonatal teams, perinatal deaths still occur. Such events are traumatic experiences for the parents and increase the risk of pathological grieving. Nursing is one of the main…
This study was conducted to determine neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses' opinions about the palliative care needs of neonates with multiple congenital anomalies. The study sample consisted of the 20 nurses who agreed to participate in the…
With increasing facilities for antenatal diagnosis, lowering gestation for intiation of intensive care, palliative care in the perinatal period is increasingly recognized as a specialist area. There have been standards and pathways developed in the…
Objective: To identify the perception of health professionals about neonatal palliative care. Method: A phenomenological qualitative study, a non-probabilistic sample, of 15 health professionals from a neonatal intensive care unit in northern…
BACKGROUND: Current conceptualisations of moral distress largely portray a negative phenomenon that leads to burnout, reduced job satisfaction and poor patient care. OBJECTIVE: To explore clinical experiences, perspectives and perceptions of moral…
Losing a child is devastating for parents and grandparents. Family and friends generally focus on comforting and supporting the bereaved parents, unintentionally ignoring the bereaved grandparents. Grandmothers and grandfathers often struggle with…
AIM: Medical providers may face unique emotional challenges when confronted with the suffering of chronically ill, dying, and bereaved children. This study assessed the preliminary outcomes of participation in a group-based multimodal mindfulness…
OBJECTIVE: We reviewed our decisions about continuation/withdrawal of life-sustaining treatments in a group of critically ill newborns who were discussed in structured medical ethical decision-making meetings, and provide the surviving children's…
OBJECTIVE: To determine how parents of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit with a poor or uncertain prognosis view their experience, and whether they view their choices as "worth it," regardless of outcome. STUDY DESIGN: Parents of eligible…
BACKGROUND: Late-onset sepsis (LOS) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The ability to predict mortality in infants with LOS based on clinical and laboratory factors at presentation of…
The purposes of research were to describe the neonatal clinicians' personal views and attitudes on neonatal ethical decision-making, to identify factors that might affect these attitudes and to compare the attitudes between neonatal physicians and…
OBJECTIVE: Comparing demographic and clinical characteristics associated with receipt of palliative care (PC) among children who died in children's hospitals to those who did not receive PC and understanding the trends in PC use. METHODS: This…
Understanding parental experiences following infant death in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a high research priority and a necessary first step to improving health services. However, recruiting bereaved parents to discuss their…
Objectives Trisomy 18 is presumed to be a lethal chromosomal abnormality; medical management of infants with this aneuploidy is controversial. Our objective was to describe our approach and experience with trisomy 18 infants. Study Design We reviewed…
OBJECTIVE: To clarify the process of end-of-life decision-making in culturally different neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). STUDY DESIGN: Review of medical files of newborns >22 weeks gestation who died in the delivery room (DR) or the NICU…
Withdrawing life-sustaining technologies requires all of the resources and concepts that the field of palliative care has to offer. By learning some fundamental principles of medical management at the time of withdrawal and by mastering a few…
The provision of nutrition and hydration to newborn infants is considered fundamental care. For premature and critically ill newborns, similar considerations generally hold true. Nutrition may be provided for these infants using assisted measures…
This study investigated parents' and health care providers' perspectives of their communicative interactions when a seriously ill infant is treated in an intensive care nursery. Both parents and health care providers stressed the importance of…
The purpose of this study was to assess the use of analgesic agents for invasive medical procedures in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. The directors of 38 pediatric units and 31 neonatal units reported that analgesics were infrequently…
At Children's Hospital of Wisconsin there is a pediatric palliative care consultation service that serves a diverse patient population, including infants. However, the value of a palliative care consultation for infants has not been well evaluated.…
The survival of newborn babies born with various problems has improved with the access to life sustaining technologies. Despite this, death in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an inevitable reality. For babies suffering from life limiting…
Background: Hospitalization of a neonate in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be a stressful event for parents. They need specific information and communication to alleviate their stress, but these parental needs are not met by NICU staff.…
