End-of-Life Care for Neonates: Assessing and Addressing Pain and Distressing Symptoms

Title

End-of-Life Care for Neonates: Assessing and Addressing Pain and Distressing Symptoms

Creator

Haug S; Dye A; Durrani S

Publisher

Frontiers in Pediatrics

Date

2020

Subject

end-of-life care; neonatal; neonatal hospice; neonatal pain; neonatal palliative care

Description

One of the most essential components of end-of-life (EOL) care for neonates is assessing and addressing distressing symptoms. There is limited evidence to guide neonatal EOL symptom management and therefore significant variety in treatment (1-4). EOL neonatal palliative care should include identifying and relieving distressing symptoms. Symptoms to manage at neonatal EOL may include pain using both non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic comfort measures, respiratory distress, secretions, agitation and neurologic symptoms, nutrition and gastrointestinal distress, and skin care. Also of equal importance is communication surrounding familial existential distress and psychosocial care (1, 5-7). Institutions should implement a guideline for neonatal EOL care as guidelines have been shown to decrease variability of interventions and increase use of pharmacologic symptom management (4). Providers should consult with palliative care teams if available for added multidisciplinary support for family and staff, which has been shown to enhance EOL care in neonates (8, 9).

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).

Citation List Month

December 2020 List

Collection

Citation

Haug S; Dye A; Durrani S, “End-of-Life Care for Neonates: Assessing and Addressing Pain and Distressing Symptoms,” Pediatric Palliative Care Library, accessed December 2, 2024, https://pedpalascnetlibrary.omeka.net/items/show/17285.