In this retrospective study, a sample of 233 parents were surveyed, by means of a postal questionnaire, about their experience of a specialised paediatric retrieval service (median time interval after child's retrieval=10 months). Although all…
Little is known about pediatric caregivers’ perceptions of religious or spiritual (R/S) care provided by physicians. We conducted a qualitative, semistructured interview study to understand perceptions of pediatric caregivers toward physician-led R/S…
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To identify the knowledge of caregivers of pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) on the French law related to patients' rights and end of life, their views on withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (WWLST)…
OBJECTIVE: To examine physiologic and therapeutic changes following withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment in children. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: University-affiliated tertiary care pediatric hospital. PATIENTS: All patients who…
PURPOSE: To examine the experiences of parents who are caring for a child with a life-threatening or life-limiting illness (LTI/LLI) including levels of uncertainty, distress, hope, and self-efficacy to determine if there are significant variations…
BACKGROUND: Although the need for palliative care is gaining recognition in Southeast Asia, knowledge about how decisions are made for children near the end of life remains sparse. OBJECTIVE: To explore pediatric intensivists' attitudes and practices…
This is the account of a mother who lived through the 5-year experience of watching her child fight and finally succumb to a genetic disorder. Lessons about caring practices and insights into the needs of patients and families are emphasized.
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…
The objective of this study is to determine if pediatric advance care planning (pACP) increases adolescent/family congruence in end-of-life (EOL) treatment preferences longitudinally. Adolescents aged 14-21 years with HIV/AIDS and their families were…
INTRODUCTION: Home Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA) is an effective and often preferred therapy for the treatment of chronic pain symptoms in the pediatric palliative care patient. There is little previous research of patient experience with Home…
It is estimated that 6.3 million children who die annually need pediatric palliative care (PPC) and that only about 10% of them receive the attention they need because about 98% of them live in under-resourced settings where PPC is not accessible.…
Fatigue in adults with cancer has received considerable attention as a troublesome symptom that requires nursing intervention. Fatigue in children with cancer, however, has received considerably less focus. The first phase of the present study used…
Family carers of children with serious illness contribute many hours of medical care in addition to usual daily care. Assessing the needs and supports of family carers is not routine practice. This study is the first to utilize the interRAI Family…
Parents of children with terminal illnesses are not always present when a life-threatening event occurs. For many of these children, an advance directive specifying alternate code orders has been written by the parent or legal guardian (hereafter the…
BACKGROUND: The disparities in access to pediatric palliative care and pain management in Latin America remains an unaddressed global health issue. Efforts to improve the development of Palliative Care (PC) provision have traditionally targeted…
OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to examine alterations in end-of-life support in a multiinstitutional sample of PICUs., METHODS: This was a retrospective, descriptive study. Variables collected included end-of-life support category, race, length of stay,…
Although frequently overshadowed by adult mortality rates and bereavement care needs, the death of a child can significantly jeopardize the physical, psychosocial, and emotional health of surviving parents, caregivers, and family members.…
Although medicolegal challenges to the use of neurologic criteria to declare death in the USA have been well-described, the management of court cases in the United Kingdom about objections to the use of neurologic criteria to declare death has not…
Children are seeing rapid changes to their routines and facing an unpredictable future. Palliative care teams may consider expanding their communication training and skill sets to help families consider caring ways to communicate with their children…
Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing provides preemptive pharmacotherapeutic guidance regarding the lack of therapeutic benefit or adverse drug reactions of PGx targeted drugs. Pharmacogenomic information is of particular value among children with complex…
Dying –or the possibility of death— is not a topic often addressed in modern medicine, especially in paediatrics. But when parents and children are faced with a life-threatening condition, difficult decisions may arise. How do parents and physicians…
OBJECTIVE: To prospectively determine opinions of members of a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) team regarding the appropriateness of aggressive care. The types of support that caregivers sought to limit and their reasons for wanting these limits…
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Advance care discussions (ACD) occur infrequently or are initiated late in the course of illness. Although data exist regarding barriers to ACD among the care of adult patients, few pediatric data exist. The goal of this…
PURPOSE: To explore bereaved parents' perspectives of parent and staff roles in the pediatric intensive care unit when their child was dying, and their relationships with healthcare staff during this time. DESIGN AND METHODS: Constructivist grounded…
The article outlines the benefits of palliative care supporting the child and family with attention to individualized symptom management, improved communication, and support making difficult decisions. Topics mentioned include the research program…
This study explored the experiences and needs of nine parents who had received hospital-based bereavement support following the death of their child from cancer, in Western Australia. Six prominent themes emerged from thematic data analysis: personal…
Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is an inherited hematologic disorder characterized by the presence of sickle-shaped red blood cells (RBC). 1 Misshapen RBCs are rigid, which leads to occlusion of blood vessels resulting in tissue ischemia and pain. Pain can…
Increasing numbers of children and young people with mental health problems are being cared for in general paediatric settings, presenting a challenge to nurses who do not have mental health nursing qualification and experience. A survey of nurses in…
BACKGROUND: Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration is characterized by severe, progressive dystonia. This study aims to describe the reported usage of cannabis products among children with pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration.…
BACKGROUND: We investigated the clinical characteristics that represent risk factors for death in pediatric patients with mitochondrial diseases. METHODS: The medical records of mitochondrial disease pediatric patients attended between 2006 and 2015…
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between a physician's subjective mortality prediction and the level of confidence with which that mortality prediction is made. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: The study is a…
CONTEXT: In order to dramatically advance the evidence base for pediatric palliative care (PPC) interventions, practices, and programs in the United States and similar practice settings, the field needs to better understand the challenges and…
OBJECTIVE: To compare characteristics of family conferences at the bedside vs. the conference room in the PICU. DESIGN: Single-site, cohort survey study. SETTING: Thirty-three bed academic PICU in an urban setting. PARTICIPANTS: Ten PICU physicians…
Background Elevated distress has been well documented among parents of children with cancer. Family systems theories suggest that cancer-related stressors and parental distress have the potential to affect child-rearing practices, but this topic has…
Lack of availability of community-based pediatric palliative care and home-based hospice services for children limits care location options for families. For many families from rural regions, hospital-based care models may be perceived as the only…
OBJECTIVE: Approximately 60% of deaths in pediatric intensive care units follow limitation or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (LST). We aimed to describe the circumstances surrounding decision making and end-of-life care in this setting.…
OBJECTIVES: Children with complex chronic conditions often receive inpatient and end-of-life care in the ICU, yet little is known about the clinical care strategies that best support this unique group of parents. This study aimed to elucidate…
BACKGROUND: Data on the end-of-life phase of children receiving palliative care are limited. The purpose of this study is to investigate the spectrum of symptoms of terminally ill children, adolescents, and young adults, depending on their underlying…
CONTEXT: A small, growing body of data exist discussing the experiences of Muslim patients with the palliative care system, both in the United States and abroad, as well as providers' experiences with Muslim patients. However, no studies evaluate…
