Parents who experience the death of a child are at high risk for psychopathology. Because a large percentage of pediatric deaths occur in the pediatric intensive care unit each year, a follow-up meeting between bereaved parents and intensivists could…
Objectives Palliative care (PC) affirms life with goal to improve quality of life for patients with life-threatening conditions.1 PC referrals are influenced by multiple patient and provider factors, including staff awareness of guidelines, plus…
As part of the invited supplement on Death and Dying in the PICU, we reviewed ethical, cultural, and social considerations for the bedside healthcare practitioner prior to engaging with children and families in decisions about limiting therapies,…
Background and Objectives: Working in pediatric and neonatal intensive care units (ICUs) can be challenging and differs from work in adult ICUs. This study investigated for the first time the perceptions, experiences and challenges that healthcare…
Background: The purpose of this paper is to describe how end-of-life care is managed when life-support limitation is decided in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and to analyze the influence of the further development of the Palliative Care Unit.…
Most childhood deaths in the United States occur in hospitals. Pediatric intensive care clinicians must anticipate and effectively treat dying children's pain and suffering and support the psychosocial and spiritual needs of families. These actions…
Objective: The care provided in the time surrounding the death of a child shapes long-term memories and has potential to impact on the grieving process. There are no specific guidelines for PICU staff in relation to what good care looks like at this…
OBJECTIVES: To describe practical considerations related to discussions about death or possible death of a critically ill child. DATA SOURCES: Personal experience and reflection. Published English language literature. STUDY SELECTION: Selected…
BACKGROUND: Societal attitudes about end-of-life events are at odds with how, where, and when children die. In addition, parents' ideas about what constitutes a "good death" in a pediatric intensive care unit vary widely. OBJECTIVE: To synthesize…
Background: Parents of children with cancer admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) often obtain support from social workers and/or chaplains (SWs/Cs). Yet, empirical work describing the roles and activities of SWs/Cs caring for patients…
Background: The relationship between clinical course and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status has not been well studied in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) setting. Objective(s): To describe the relationship between DNR order placement and…
Aims & Objectives: Caring for dying children is complex and requires coordination of all resources. In PICU the main objective is to save lives and ensure vital functions in critically ill children. However due to the child's critical and life…
Description: Background: Pediatric palliative care is an interdisciplinary service that works to enhance the quality of life for children with serious illness. Unfortunately, the need for palliative care is difficult to ascertain and is often…
Background As understandings of the impacts of end-of-life experiences on parents’ grief and bereavement increase, so too does the inclusion of bereaved parents into research studies exploring these experiences. However, designing and obtaining…
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…
Importance: The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) exposes children to stressful experiences with potential long-term psychological repercussions. However, current understanding of post-PICU psychological outcomes is incomplete. Objective(s): To…
BACKGROUND: Early identification of patients in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at risk of nutritional status (NS) deterioration and poor outcomes is desirable. We aimed to identify factors associated with NS deterioration and prolonged PICU…
OBJECTIVES: To identify the prevalence of screening criteria for acute and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) and stress symptoms among family members of children in the PICU for more than 8 days and examine risk factors for stress symptoms.…
Since 2005, forgoing live-support (FLS) is allowed by the French law (known as the Leonetti law) for end-of-life patients only. This study aims at describing the variations over time in the use of the following methods to end life: FLS, brain death…
Title “You have made all the loving choices”: A qualitative study of physician “good parent” statements during Pediatric Intensive Care Unit care conferences Background Parents’ ideas about what it means to be a “good parent” to their seriously ill…
Little is known about how nursing care at the end of a child's life impacts long-term parental bereavement. We aimed to explain, contextualize, and examine comparisons between quantitative trends in children's end-of-life care and parents'…
