Pilot of a Pediatric Palliative Care Early Intervention Instrument
Current research demonstrates that pediatric symptom management care is often initiated in the late stages of disease once clinicians are no longer able to meaningfully impact symptom burden. Given that physicians or nurse practitioners are responsible for initiating palliative care referrals, it is incumbent upon registered nurses to advocate when improved symptom management care is needed. The pediatric palliative care screening instrument pilot provides a centralized instrument to document and quantify a patient's symptom profile, giving registered nurses the opportunity to objectively communicate and track a patient's need for improved symptom management care within the areas of pain, secretions, dyspnea, intractable seizures, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, anorexia, cachexia, sleep disturbance, lethargy, anxiety, depression, and/or agitation. The 4-week quality improvement project at an academic teaching hospital formally incorporated the bedside registered nurses' symptom assessment into a centralized document. Fifty-three patients were identified as having an uncontrolled symptom burden in at least one of the symptom domains, indicating that excessive and untreated symptom burden was present on the acute care floor. The pediatric palliative care screening instrument could act as a conduit between bedside registered nurses and the palliative care team, serving to reduce the time between onset of excessive symptom burden and initiation of symptom management services.
Shaw R; Miller JG; Seegal H; Keim-Malpass J
Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing
2018
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here.
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000466" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1097/NJH.0000000000000466</a>
Pediatric Palliative Care: Using Miniature Chairs to Facilitate Communication
Good communication is essential but sometimes challenging in pediatric palliative care. We describe 3 cases whereby miniature chairs made of various materials and colors were used successfully to encourage communication among pediatric patients, family, and health care professionals. This chair-inspired model may serve as a simple tool to facilitate complex discussions and to enable self-expression by children in the pediatric palliative care setting.
2013-10
Chin LE; Loong Lam Chee; Ngen Chin Cheuk; Beng TS; Shireen C; Kuan Wong Sook; Shaw R
The American Journal Of Hospice & Palliative Care
2013
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1049909113509001" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1177/1049909113509001</a>