Impact of a palliative care program on end-of-life care in a neonatal intensive care unit

Title

Impact of a palliative care program on end-of-life care in a neonatal intensive care unit

Creator

Younge N; Smith PB; Goldberg RN; Brandon DH; Simmons C; Cotten CM; Bidegain M

Identifier

Publisher

Journal Of Perinatology

Date

2014

Description

Objective:Evaluate changes in end-of-life care following initiation of a palliative care program in a neonatal intensive care unit.Study design:Retrospective study comparing infant deaths before and after implementation of a Palliative Care Program comprised of medication guidelines, an individualized order set, a nursing care plan and staff education.Result:Eighty-two infants died before (Era 1) and 68 infants died after implementation of the program (Era 2). Morphine use was similar (88% vs 81%; P =0.17), whereas benzodiazepines use increased in Era 2 (26% vs 43%; P=0.03). Withdrawal of life support (73% vs 63%; P=0.17) and do-not-resuscitate orders (46% vs 53%; P=0.42) were similar. Do-not-resuscitate orders and family meetings were more frequent among Era 2 infants with activated palliative care orders (n=21) compared with infants without activated orders (n=47).Conclusion:End-of-life family meetings and benzodiazepine use increased following implementation of our program, likely reflecting adherence to guidelines and improved communication.Journal of Perinatology advance online publication, 23 October 2014; doi:10.1038/jp.2014.193.
2014-10

Rights

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).

Type

Journal Article

Citation List Month

Backlog

Citation

Younge N; Smith PB; Goldberg RN; Brandon DH; Simmons C; Cotten CM; Bidegain M, “Impact of a palliative care program on end-of-life care in a neonatal intensive care unit,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed March 28, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/15014.