Siblings and End-Of-Life Decision Making in the NICU

Siblings and End-Of-Life Decision Making in the NICU

Power J; Gillam L; Prentice TM

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health

2023

decision making; sibling; care behavior; child; clinical article; conference abstract; content analysis; critically ill patient; Decision Making; electronic medical record; female; human; infant; male; neonatal intensive care unit; perception; semi structured interview; wellbeing

Background: When making end-of-life decisions for a child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), standard practice is to involve parents in shared decision-making so that the values of parents are considered and decisions are made in the interests of the child. In this decision-making process, it is not known whether parents are influenced by the needs of their other children. Method(s): A qualitative two-phase exploratory methodology was chosen to understand how considerations for other children in the family influence parents' decisions. The electronic medical records of children ( n = 20) previously admitted to the Royal Children's Hospital's NICU were analysed for relevant mentions of siblings. Then, families ( n = 3) participated in semi-structured interviews to understand considerations of siblings. Statements and interviews were analysed using inductive content analysis. Result(s): Parents articulate the considerate juggling act of balancing the day-to-day needs of multiple children during the NICU journey. With the wellbeing of siblings in mind, parents made a range of decisions with different degrees of medical impact in the NICU. For end-of-life decisions, parents differed in their perspectives about whether considerations of siblings should be taken into account. Moreover, clinicians were aware of the challenges of caring for multiple children and supported parents with these challenges. Conclusion(s): It is clinically and ethically significant that sibling considerations impact end-of-life decision-making. We suggest clinicians reflect on their own perception of how much siblings should be allowed to influence end-of-life decisions to protect critically ill babies from harm. More research is needed to better understand these influences.

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