Reorientation of care in the NICU

Spiritual and cultural influences on end-of-life care and decision-making in NICU

Understanding and respecting the spiritual beliefs, ethnic roots, cultural norms and customs of individual families is essential for neonatologists to provide clinically appropriate and humane end-of-life care. This review describes the religious/philosophical principles, cultural-related practices/rituals, and traditions in end-of-life care in major spiritual groups of today's multi-cultural, multi-faith societies. The spiritual groups include Christians, Muslims, Jewish Judaism believers and Asian religious/philosophy followers such as Buddhists, Hindus, Taoists, Confucianism devotees and ancestral worshippers. It is vital to understand that substantial variation in views and practices may exist even within the same religion and culture in different geographic locations. Ethical views and cultural practices are not static elements in life but behave in a fluidic and dynamic manner that could change with time. Interestingly, an evolving pattern has been observed in some Asian and Middle East countries that more parents and/or religious groups are beginning to accept a form of redirection of care most compatible with their spiritual belief and culture. Thus, every family must be assessed and counseled individually for end-of-life decision-making. Also, every effort should be made to comply with parents' requests and to treat infants/parents of different religions and cultures with utmost dignity so that they have no regret for their irreversible decisions.

Life and Death Sometimes Coincide, and Pastoral Response is Crucial to the Brokenhearted

Perinatal loss may remain unexplained, despite current technology, modern preventive care measures, and advanced diagnostic procedures. Culturally sensitive and competent discussions should be prioritized in medicine, but religious and spiritual feelings are often marginalized. Here we highlight our reflections on the importance of the spiritual and theological responses to parents grieving stillbirth. Chaplains are critical for the wellbeing of both families and physicians.

Drawing on experience: exploring the pedagogical possibilities of using rich pictures in health professions education

In both clinical and health professions education research, rich pictures, or participant-generated drawings of complex phenomena, are gaining recognition as a useful method for exploring multifaceted and emotional topics in medicine. For instance, two recent studies used rich pictures to augment semi-structured interviews exploring trainees', health care professionals' (HCPs), and parents' experiences of difficult conversations in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)-an environment in which communication is often challenging, anxiety-provoking, and emotionally distressing. In both studies, participants were invited to draw a picture depicting how they experienced a difficult conversation in this setting. As part of the interview process, participants were asked to both describe how they engaged with rich pictures, and to share their perceptions about the affordances and limitations of this research method. Here, their perspectives are reported and the possibilities of using rich pictures to inform pedagogical innovations in health professions education and research are considered.

Conflict resolution and negotiation in pediatric surgery

Conflict is pervasive in pediatric surgery - it is experienced during patient care, in the operating room and between colleagues. The ethical principles of autonomy, beneficience, non-maleficience and justice are firmly anchored in any discourse regarding conflict in the setting of healthcare. The authors review key features of conflict in healthcare including the effect on patient outcomes as well as implications for the ability of the surgeon and the medical team to function appropriately and safely when conflicts arise. Although most pediatric surgery fellowship programs have no formal training in conflict management, much has been written about strategies to teach and utilize techniques of conflict mitigation and negotiation. In this article, the authors discuss common areas of conflict in the medical environment and suggest useful tools for the practicing pediatric surgeon to aid in the resolution of conflict.

Parent moral distress in serious pediatric illness: A dimensional analysis

BACKGROUND

Moral distress is an important and well-studied phenomenon among nurses and other healthcare providers, yet the conceptualization of parental moral distress remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this dimensional analysis was to describe the nature of family moral distress in serious pediatric illness.

DESIGN AND METHODS

A dimensional analysis of articles retrieved from a librarian-assisted systematic review of Scopus, CINAHL, and PsychInfo was conducted, focusing on how children, parents, other family members, and healthcare providers describe parental moral distress, both explicitly through writings on parental moral experience and implicitly through writings on parental involvement in distressing aspects of the child's serious illness.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

To promote child and family best interest and minimize harm, a nuanced understanding of the moral, existential, emotional, and spiritual impact of serious pediatric illness is needed. The cases used in this dimensional analysis come from the first author's IRB approved study at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and subsequent published studies; or have been adapted from the literature and the authors' clinical experiences.

FINDINGS

Three dimensions emerged from the literature surrounding parent moral distress: an intrapersonal dimension, an interpersonal dimension, and a spiritual/existential dimension. The overarching theme is that parents experience relational solace and distress because of the impact of their child's illness on relationships with themselves, their children, family, healthcare providers, their surrounding communities, and society.

DISCUSSION

Elucidating this concept can help nurses and other professionals understand, mitigate, or eliminate antecedents to parental moral distress. We discuss how this model can facilitate future empirical and conceptual bioethics research, as well as inform the manner in which healthcare providers engage, collaborate with, and care for families during serious pediatric illness.

CONCLUSION

Parent moral distress is an important and complex phenomenon that requires further theoretical and empirical investigation. We provide an integrated definition and dimensional schematic model that may serve as a starting point for future research and dialogue.

Nurses' Experiences of End-of-life Photography in NICU Bereavement Support

PURPOSE

To qualitatively explore neonatal intensive care nurses' experiences with end-of-life photography as part of their bereavement support work with families.

DESIGN AND METHODS

An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis with data collected through a focus group (n = 6) and one semi-structured interview (n = 1) with neonatal nurses from a Level 3/4 NICU in a Canadian pediatric hospital.

RESULTS

Participants' comfort with EOL photography developed over time through exposure to bereavement scenarios and positive experiences with families. Participants' experienced a feeling of pressure to balance the photography with clinical responsibilities and find the right time to introduce photography while being sensitive to family experiences. Participants experienced EOL photography as something tangible to give families and were satisfied knowing the images might play an important role in the family's healing after the NICU.

CONCLUSIONS

All participants had come to value EOL photography as a positive and meaningful part of their work with bereaved families. Identified challenges related to balancing the practice with the unpredictable flow and demands of critical care and to developing an appreciation for and comfort with the photography as part of their healing and the families' healing.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Findings contribute insight into care-provider experience that can inform best practices, training, and staff support for palliative and bereavement work in neonatal and pediatric settings. The findings suggest a need to support nurses emotionally and clinically in carrying out this photography as part of their care for families.

Information and Communication Needs of Parents in Infant End-of-Life: A Qualitative Study

Background

Hospitalization of a neonate in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be a stressful event for parents. They need specific information and communication to alleviate their stress, but these parental needs are not met by NICU staff. Exploration of these needs can help health professionals to provide better healthcare services.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to explore the information and communication needs of families in neonatal end-of-life and bereavement in the NICU.

Materials and Methods

A qualitative content analysis method was used for this study. Data were collected through single semi-structured interviews with 24 participants. Sampling was conducted based on the purposive sampling method in five NICU environments in Iran. All interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim.

Results

Data analysis revealed two main themes: information and communication. For information, there were two subthemes (true information about the infant’s health and true information about the infant’s death), and communication needs also developed two subthemes (communication with healthcare professionals and communication with the infant before, during and after the infant’s death).

Conclusions

According to the results, parents need accurate information about the health and the death of their neonates in the NICU. They also need to communicate with healthcare professionals and their babies. Communication is regarded as a channel for obtaining information. Therefore, the healthcare team needs to address these families’ needs and attempt to fulfill their requirements in neonatal end-of-life and bereavement in the NICU.

Support for mothers, fathers and families after perinatal death

BACKGROUND

Provision of an empathetic, sensitive, caring environment and strategies to support mothers, fathers and their families experiencing perinatal death are now an accepted part of maternity services in many countries. Interventions such as psychological support or counselling, or both, have been suggested to improve outcomes for parents and families after perinatal death.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effect of any form of intervention (i.e. medical, nursing, midwifery, social work, psychology, counselling or community-based) on parents and families who experience perinatal death.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (28 January 2013) and article bibliographies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised trials of any form of support aimed at encouraging acceptance of loss, bereavement counselling, or specialised psychotherapy or counselling for mothers, fathers and families experiencing perinatal death.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently assessed eligibility of trials.

MAIN RESULTS

No trials were included.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Primary healthcare interventions and a strong family and social support network are invaluable to parents and families around the time a baby dies. However, due to the lack of high-quality randomised trials conducted in this area, the true benefits of currently existing interventions aimed at providing support for mothers, fathers and families experiencing perinatal death is unclear. Further, the currently available evidence around the potential detrimental effects of some interventions (e.g. seeing and holding a deceased baby) remains inconclusive at this point in time. However, some well-designed descriptive studies have shown that, under the right circumstances and guided by compassionate, sensitive, experienced staff, parents' experiences of seeing and holding their deceased baby is often very positive. The sensitive nature of this topic and small sample sizes, make it difficult to develop rigorous clinical trials. Hence, other research designs may further inform practice in this area. Where justified, methodologically rigorous trials are needed. However, methodologically rigorous trials should be considered comparing different approaches to support.

Conflict resolution in end-of-life decisions in the neonatal unit

End-of-life decisions are always stressful for families and professionals. As the decades pass, ethics and the law both change, even in one society, and cannot always provide perfect choices for each individual patient. Conflict should rarely arise in the neonatal unit. High-quality communication and compassion should allow professionals and families to build a team approach to the care of their child, even when the infant is imperilled. Each unit should have structures in place to deal with conflict, and every senior professional must be trained in conflict resolution so that the care of the family is outstanding.

Palliative care for the newborn in the United Kingdom

Palliative care for the newborn is a developing area. There are more than 2000 estimated neonatal deaths each year in the UK from causes likely to benefit from palliative care. There is an increasing recognition that while the goals of care may be different for dying newborns, they deserve the same high standard of care as those babies who go on to survive. Recent neonatal palliative care guidance is available from the British Association for Perinatal Medicine (BAPM), the General Medical Council (GMC), and ACT (the U.K. association for children's palliative care). We attempt to answer the question: 'What does the provision of good neonatal palliative care look like?' by examining the factors important in the provision of such care.

Informing parents about the actual or impending death of their infant in a newborn intensive care unit

Modern perinatal and neonatal care practices have increased survival of infants that in previous care eras would have perished. The majority of infants admitted to a newborn intensive care unit following delivery currently do well and are discharged home. Unfortunately for others, the ultimate outcome may be death. The death of a newborn infant is clearly a devastating loss to parents. How parents are informed of their infant's actual or impending death can either add to a grief reaction, or help support parents through their loss. The literature supports that most healthcare professionals frequently feel inept while discussing the death of a newborn with the baby's family. This article will present parents' descriptions of what helped or did not help when they were informed of their infant's inevitable death. It will also demonstrate how simulation may be effective in improving communication of bad or sad news to families in a manner that sustains them in the immediate present, as well as adds to their future well-being.

The ritual: death pronouncement

BACKGROUND

Death pronouncement comes infrequently for the pediatrician. The place of death for most children is in the hospital. For hospitalists and pediatric intensivists in the neonatal intensive care or pediatric intensive care units, death pronouncement is not uncommon. For hospitalist physicians, the call to attend a code or to pronounce a death may come on any given shift and from almost anywhere in the hospital.

CONCLUSION

A demonstrative case is provided, followed by key concepts for practice and for educating trainees.

The French Society of Neonatology's proposals for neonatal end-of-life decision-making

BACKGROUND

Opinions and practice regarding end-of-life decisions in neonatal medicine show considerable variations between countries. A recent change of the legal framework, together with an ongoing debate among French neonatologists, led the French Society of Neonatology to reconsider and update its previous recommendations.

OBJECTIVES

To propose a set of recommendations on the ethical principles to be respected in the making and application of end-of-life decisions.

METHODS

A multidisciplinary working group on ethical issues in perinatal medicine composed of neonatologists, obstetricians and ethicists.

RESULTS

Withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment may be acceptable, and unreasonable therapeutic obstinacy is condemned. This implies that the child's best interests must always be the central consideration. Although the parents must be involved in the decision process so that they form an alliance with the healthcare team, and a collegial approach is of utmost importance, any crucial decision affecting the patient's life calls for individual medical responsibility. Because every newborn is rightfully an integral member of a human family, his or her dignity must be preserved. The goal of palliative care is to preserve the quality of a life, also at its end. The intention underlying an act has to be analyzed perceptively. Euthanasia, i.e. to perform an act with the deliberate intention to cause or hasten a patient's death, is legally and morally forbidden. Conversely, to withhold or withdraw a life-sustaining treatment can be justified when the intention is to cease opposing, in an unreasonable manner, the natural course of a disease.

CONCLUSIONS

This statement provides the principles identified by French neonatologists on which to base their decisions concerning the ending of life. Arguments are set forth, discussed and compared with international statements and previously published considerations.

End of life decisions in chronic lung disease

Staff may be reluctant to discuss end of life decisions in chronic lung disease (CLD) as it is usual for the disease to take a prolonged course and most infants recover to be discharged home without supplemental oxygen. A minority suffer a protracted and very severe illness in spite of treatments. Further intensive care may prolong a distressing death rather than offer any hope of survival. An end of life decision may be made after discussions with parents. Assisted ventilation may be withdrawn, or care redirected to withhold further episodes of assisted ventilation. A lingering death is a risk in infants who have not yet reached the point of dying but whose care has been redirected. Tachypnoea, rib retractions and agitation are distressing for the infant and parents. Palliative care must meet the needs of parents as well as their baby. It includes the legal use of drugs to relieve the infant's distress.

Neonatal end-of-life decisions and bioethical perspectives

In the nineties the EURONIC project documented the staff views and practices regarding ethical decision-making in neonatal intensive care units of eight Western Europe countries: France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. This paper reviews the changes occurred in the ethical and legal background of these countries, and discusses possible influences on neonatal care practices. To a certain extent, many of these changes appear to be in line with the neonatal physicians' views and attitudes previously documented by the EURONIC project, while some are not. Large differences persist within Western Europe on what constitutes appropriate neonatal end-of-life care.