Subject
infant; hospice; mortality; Mississippi; Alabama; palliative therapy; major clinical study; retrospective study; Caucasian; neonatal intensive care unit; prematurity; time of death; conference abstract; medical record review; human; child; female; male; controlled study; hospitalization; resuscitation; statistics; medicaid; data analysis software; Louisiana; African American; hospitalized infant; travel
Description
Objectives: 1. Describe patterns of pediatric palliative care and care disparities in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients and families hospitalized in the Deep South (Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi). 2. Describe implications for practice related to current trends of pediatric palliative care use in the NICU and implications for future research. Original Research Background: Pediatric mortality is the highest in the first year of life. In 2013, 23,446 infants died in the U.S. Access to timely pediatric palliative care (PPC) services are limited for seriously ill infants and their families in the U. S. Deep South. Patterns of PPC in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the extent of PPC disparities in the Deep South are unknown. Research Objectives: Examine racial and geographical differences in pediatric palliative care (PPC) consultation for seriously ill infants in the neonatal intensive care unit.