Journal of palliative medicine
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While caring for critically ill and terminal patients can elicit grief symptoms in health care professionals, few studies have examined oncologists' grief over patient loss using a qualitative approach to inquiry. ⋯ Effective interventions to help oncologists cope with grief must identify the expectation gaps between physicians and patients when it comes to end-of-life care.
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To explore the psychological experiences of children with brain tumors at the end of life. ⋯ Children who die from brain tumors experience a distinct set of progressive neurologic deteriorations that invariably impact psychological status both positively and negatively. Informed treatments that build on positive growth and minimize negative symptoms are required in order to reduce the suffering incurred to the child and family and to optimize quality of life.
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In recent years, intensive care for cancer patients has improved and treatment of critically ill cancer patients has become increasingly aggressive over time. However, not all cancer patients would benefit from aggressive care, especially those with late-stage cancer. ⋯ Among late-stage lung cancer patients with sepsis-related respiratory failure, those with lower SOFA scores seemed to have better survival rate and may benefit from intensive care in the ICU. Early palliative care should be considered for all patients with advanced lung cancer, and hospice care is suggested for those with sepsis-respiratory failure and high SOFA scores.
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Children admitted to pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) face potentially life limiting conditions. The toll on heath care professionals caring for these children is significant and often overlooked. There is a potential need for increased staff support, and facilitated peer support sessions could be an effective management tool, but few studies specifically evaluate this multidisciplinary population. The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the current rates of grief and burnout among health care professionals in our PICU, and explore facilitated support sessions as a method of reducing grief perceptions and burnout among providers. ⋯ While facilitated peer support did not reduce grief and burnout scores among our PICU interdisciplinary staff, many factors could have affected results, including small sample size, potentially different participants across sessions, timing of sessions, and the timing of administration of posttest instruments. Additionally, even though not statistically significant, the area of personal growth showed a trend toward improvement, indicating an area for further research.