Journal of palliative medicine
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In this single-site study, we evaluated the feasibility of a parent-clinician communication intervention designed to: identify parents' rationale for the phase I, do-not-resuscitate (DNR), or terminal care decision made on behalf of their child with incurable cancer; identify their definition of being a good parent to their ill child; and provide this information to the child's clinicians in time to be of use in the family's care. ⋯ The communication intervention was feasible within hours of decision making, was acceptable and beneficial without harm to participating parents, and was acceptable and useful to clinicians in their care of families.
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Acute palliative care units (APCUs) provide intensive symptom support and transition of care for advanced cancer patients. Better understanding of the predictors of in-hospital mortality is needed to facilitate program planning and patient care. In this prospective study, we identified predictors of APCU mortality, and developed a four-item In-hospital Mortality Prediction in Advanced Cancer Patients (IMPACT) predictive model. ⋯ Higher education was associated with increased utilization of the interdisciplinary palliative care unit until at the end of life. Patients with higher symptom burden, delirium, and hematologic malignancies were also more likely to require APCU care until death.
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Integration of palliative care for intensive care unit (ICU) patients is important but often challenging, especially in surgical ICUs (SICUs), in part because many surgeons equate palliative care with terminal care and failure of restorative care. SICU nurses, who are key front-line clinicians, can provide insights into barriers for delivery of optimal palliative care in their setting. ⋯ Nurses providing bedside care in SICUs identify barriers in several domains that may impede optimal discussions of prognoses and end-of-life care for patients with surgical critical illness. Consideration of these perceived barriers and the underlying SICU culture is relevant for designing interventions to improve palliative care in this setting.