Pediatr Crit Care Me
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2018
ReviewIntegrating Palliative Care Into the ICU: From Core Competency to Consultative Expertise.
To propose a model describing levels of integration of palliative care into the care of ICU patients. ⋯ All critical care team members should demonstrate and foster their core competencies in caring for patients with complex illness and uncertain prognosis, including at the end of life. We describe these core competencies of the ICU team member as "primary" palliative care skills. Some ICU team members will have special expertise in end-of-life care or symptom management and decision-making support and will serve as local experts within the ICU team as a resource to other team members. We call this skillset "secondary" palliative care. Some patients will benefit from the full range of expertise provided by a separate consulting team, with additional training, focused on caring for patients with palliative care needs across the full spectrum of patient locations within a health system. We term the skillset provided by such outside consultants "tertiary" palliative care. Solutions for meeting patients' palliative care needs will be unique within each system and individual institution, depending on available resources, history, and structures in place. Providers from multiple professions will usually contribute to meeting patient needs.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2018
Multicenter StudyIntensive Care Mortality Prognostic Model for Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension.
The disease burden and mortality of children with pulmonary hypertension are significantly higher than for the general PICU population. We aimed to develop a risk-adjustment tool predicting PICU mortality for pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients: the Pediatric Index of Pulmonary Hypertension Intensive Care Mortality score. ⋯ The Pediatric Index of Pulmonary Hypertension Intensive Care Mortality score is a parsimonious model that performs better than Pediatric Risk of Mortality 3 and Pediatric Index of Mortality 2 for mortality in a multicenter cohort of pediatric pulmonary hypertension patients admitted to PICUs. Application of the Pediatric Index of Pulmonary Hypertension Intensive Care Mortality model to pulmonary hypertension patients in the PICU might facilitate earlier identification of patients at high risk for mortality and improve the ability to prognosticate for patients and families.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialInvolvement of Parents in the Care of Preterm Infants: A Pilot Study Evaluating a Family-Centered Care Intervention in a Chinese Neonatal ICU.
To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of a family-centered care intervention in a Chinese neonatal ICU. ⋯ Involving parents in the care of their infant improved clinical outcomes of infants. Family-centered care also contributed to a better understanding of parent's clinical education, decrease stress levels, and increased parental satisfaction. Our study suggests that involving parents in the daily care of their infants is feasible and should be promoted by neonatal ICU clinicians.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Aug 2018
ReviewOrgan Donation Following Neurologic and Circulatory Determination of Death.
To describe important considerations during the process of caring for critically ill children who may be potential organ donors and supporting the family during the death of their child. ⋯ Organ donation is an important component of end-of-life care and can help the healing process for families and medical staff following the death of a child. The process of pediatric organ donation requires healthcare providers to actively work to preserve the option of donation before the death of the child and ensure donation occurs after consent/authorization has been obtained from the family. Medical management of the pediatric organ donor requires the expertise of a multidisciplinary medical team skilled in the unique needs of caring for children after neurologic determination of death and those who become donors following circulatory death after withdrawal of life-sustaining medical therapies.
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To describe the health outcomes of bereaved parents and identify practical strategies for critical care providers as they support and provide anticipatory guidance to bereaved parents. ⋯ The death of a child is a traumatic experience that can put parents at risk for adverse mental and physical health during bereavement. Health professionals working in PICUs can benefit from knowing these risks to best support bereaved parents, both during their child's hospitalization and in the early postdeath period. The bereavement experience of parents is an adaptive process, and ongoing professional support may be required for vulnerable families. After the child's hospitalization and death, a bereavement follow-up meeting with PICU physician(s) and staff may allow parents to gain additional information, emotional support, and provide an opportunity for parents to give feedback on their experiences.