Parental presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation of children: the experience, opinions and moral positions of emergency teams in France

Pediatric cardiopulmonary resuscitation in infant and children with chronic diseases: A simple approach?

Infants and children with complex chronic diseases have lifelong, life-threatening conditions and for many, early death is an unavoidable outcome of their disease process. But not all chronic diseases in children are fatal when treated well. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is more common in children with chronic diseases than in healthy children. Resuscitation of infants and children presents significant challenges to physicians and healthcare providers. Primarily, these situations occur only rarely and are therefore not only medically demanding but also associated with emotional stress. In case of resuscitation in infants and children with chronic diseases these challenges become much more complex. The worldwide valid Pediatric Advanced Life Support Guidelines do not give clear recommendations how to deal with periarrest situations in chronically ill infants and children. For relevant life-limiting illnesses, a "do not resuscitate" order should be discussed early, taking into account medical, ethical, and emotional considerations. The decision to terminate resuscitative efforts in cardiopulmonary arrest in infants and children with chronic illnesses such as severe lung disease, heart disease, or even incurable cancer is complex and controversial among physicians and parents. Judging the "outcome" of resuscitation as a "good" outcome becomes complex because for some, life extension itself and for others, quality of life is a goal. Physicians often decide that a healthy child is more likely to have a reversible condition and thereby have a better outcome than a child with multiple comorbidities and chronic health care needs. Major challenges in resuscitation infants and children are that clinicians need to individualize resuscitation strategies in light of each chronic disease, anatomy and physiology. This review aims to highlight terms of resuscitation infants and children with complex chronic diseases, considering resuscitation-related factors, parent-related factors, patient-related factors, and physician-related factors.

Feeling Informed Versus Being Informed: Mixed-Methods Analysis of Family Perceptions and Behavior Following a Pediatric Emergency Department Visit

PURPOSE

To examine perceptions of family-centered care, satisfaction, and quality of communication with health professionals during a pediatric emergency department visit, and to evaluate the perceived usefulness of the information received and whether provider treatment recommendations were followed after discharge.

DESIGN

Embedded mixed methods design with two concurrent phases. Participants in phase 1 were 385 adult relatives of children (age 6 days-17 years, mean 5.0 years, SD 4.5) seen in a pediatric emergency department. On the day of the visit, relatives completed questionnaires exploring perceptions of family-centered care, satisfaction (CSQ-8), and quality of communication with professionals (ad hoc instrument). For phase 2, we conducted daily structured telephone interviews with 37 of these parents over the six consecutive days following the emergency visit.

RESULTS

Satisfaction with the visit was significantly related to the perception of family-centered care (B = 0.25; 95% CI [0.20, 0.29]; p < .001). Follow-up interviews revealed that 45.9% (n = 17) of families did not follow the prescribed treatment and 32.4% (n = 12) made a further appointment with their primary care pediatrician. Qualitative analysis suggested that families lacked certain information from care providers.

CONCLUSIONS

Elements of a family-centered approach were rated positively and families believed that the information they received was useful. Importantly, more than half of the families who were followed up by telephone had doubts about provider treatment recommendations.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Family-centered care in the pediatric emergency department could enhance communication and help to ensure that treatment recommendations are followed at home.

[Ethics of resuscitation and end of life decisions]

These European Resuscitation Council Ethics guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the ethical, routine practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care of adults and children. The guideline primarily focus on major ethical practice interventions (i.e. advance directives, advance care planning, and shared decision making), decision making regarding resuscitation, education, and research. These areas are tightly related to the application of the principles of bioethics in the practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care.

Family presence during resuscitation in paediatric and neonatal cardiac arrest: A systematic review

CONTEXT

Parent/family presence at pediatric resuscitations has been slow to become consistent practice in hospital settings and has not been universally implemented. A systematic review of the literature on family presence during pediatric and neonatal resuscitation has not been previously conducted.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review of the published evidence related to family presence during pediatric and neonatal resuscitation.

DATA SOURCES

Six major bibliographic databases was undertaken with defined search terms and including literature up to June 14, 2020.

STUDY SELECTION

3200 titles were retrieved in the initial search; 36 ultimately included for review.

DATA EXTRACTION

Data was double extracted independently by two reviewers and confirmed with the review team. All eligible studies were either survey or interview-based and as such we turned to narrative systematic review methodology.

RESULTS

The authors identified two key sets of findings: first, parents/family members want to be offered the option to be present for their child's resuscitation. Secondly, health care provider attitudes varied widely (ranging from 15% to >85%), however, support for family presence increased with previous experience and level of seniority.

LIMITATIONS

English language only; lack of randomized control trials; quality of the publications.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents wish to be offered the opportunity to be present but opinions and perspectives on the family presence vary greatly among health care providers. This topic urgently needs high quality, comparative research to measure the actual impact of family presence on patient, family and staff outcomes.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42020140363.

European Resuscitation Council Guidelines 2021: Ethics of resuscitation and end of life decisions

These European Resuscitation Council Ethics guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the ethical, routine practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care of adults and children. The guideline primarily focus on major ethical practice interventions (i.e. advance directives, advance care planning, and shared decision making), decision making regarding resuscitation, education, and research. These areas are tightly related to the application of the principles of bioethics in the practice of resuscitation and end-of-life care.

Family presence during resuscitation: a needs assessment of education, policy, and opinion in Canada

PURPOSE

Family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) has been widely endorsed. Nevertheless, there is limited information available on current education and training used to support FPDR implementation, including that of relevant policy. Understanding the current state of FPDR educational opportunities, policies, and practices across Canadian hospitals is crucial to advancing and standardizing these within our medical community. Our objective was to identify the current and desired state of education and policy on FPDR, as well as current practices and opinions of Canadian healthcare professionals.

METHODS

We selected questionnaire topics and employed a modified Delphi consensus technique using a group of subject matter experts in resuscitation. We contacted a stratified sample of Canadian healthcare professionals via select listservs and surveyed the cohort using RedCAP™. We used descriptive statistics and conducted quantitative analyses to describe and test for significant differences among groups.

RESULTS

In total, 635 surveys were completed. Only 46.3% of participants reported ever attending an educational opportunity involving learning how to manage FPDR; however, 92% wanted training. Only 11% knew if they had an official FPDR policy in their current hospital but 62.9% indicated they wanted one. In support of FPDR, 88% agreed that family members should be allowed to be present during a resuscitation.

CONCLUSION

While opinions are mostly positive towards FPDR, there exists a gap between the current and desired state of education and policy supporting it within Canada.

A Scoping Review of the Impact of Family Presence on Pediatric Resuscitation Team Members

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this scoping review was to identify the extent, range, and nature of information currently available on family presence during pediatric resuscitation on resuscitation team members and their performance.

DATA SOURCES

A comprehensive search strategy was created and executed by identifying primary keywords in central articles, pretesting key words and combinations of them in databases to confirm articles returned fell within the search parameters, and checking that key articles were returned which confirmed the search strategy was not too narrow.

STUDY SELECTION

Two members of the research team independently conducted relevance screening using predetermined inclusion and exclusion parameters. Titles and abstracts of retrieved articles were reviewed using the set criteria involving. From the refined list of selected articles, full texts of each article were considered for final determination of inclusion.

DATA EXTRACTION

Key items of information were gathered from each article selected using a predefined extraction list. The extracted information was then sorted into themes and relevant issues.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Of the 3,012 studies initially identified, 48 met the inclusion criteria. Themes identified included as follows: 1) attitudes and opinions on family presence during pediatric resuscitation; 2) reasons in support of or against family presence during pediatric resuscitation; 3) education, training, and support; and 4) resuscitation performance and outcomes. Our review of the available information highlighted that the majority of work done to this point has focused heavily on healthcare provider opinions and relied mainly on survey method.

CONCLUSIONS

We propose that future research employ more rigorous research techniques, such as randomized control trials, place greater emphasis on healthcare provider behaviors and clinical outcomes during family presence during pediatric resuscitation, and increase exploration into the education and training needs of healthcare providers who already currently manage family presence during pediatric resuscitation.

Family presence during paediatric resuscitation and invasive procedures: the parental experience: An integrative review: An integrative review

BACKGROUND

The evolvement of family-centred care has been an ongoing process since the Platt Report 1959. Family-centred care has become the modern working model in paediatrics and obstetrics. Parental participation is central to family-centred care. Whether it is applied consistently remains to be concluded.

AIM

The aim of the study was to describe the family experiences of being present during paediatric resuscitation and invasive procedures.

METHOD

The design used in this study is an integrative review by Whittemore & Knafl. Databases PubMed and CINAHL were searched for primary research concerning the parental experiences of participating in paediatric resuscitation and invasive procedures. Eighteen studies were included in the study. A quality assessment tool was applied.

FINDINGS

A pro-parental presence was the results of 17 of the 18 included studies. Six common themes were found: 'Being there', 'Calming child', 'Calming parent', 'Having the right', 'Do it again' and 'Seeing is believing'.

CONCLUSION

Including family in resuscitation and invasive procedures requires openness as a working model and demands organisational changes and the updating of guidelines. The inseparability of parent-child is attachment theory practised, an innate quality of being a child as well as a parent. Recommendations are to have a facilitator present during resuscitation and invasive procedures to alleviate stress on everyone's part, enabling family participation.

Factors influencing termination of resuscitation in children: a qualitative analysis

BACKGROUND

Pediatric Advanced Life Support provides guidelines for resuscitating children in cardiopulmonary arrest. However, the role physicians' attitudes and beliefs play in decision-making when terminating resuscitation has not been fully investigated. This study aims to identify and explore the vital "non-medical" considerations surrounding the decision to terminate efforts by U.S.-based Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) physicians.

METHODS

A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted using PEM physician experiences in terminating resuscitation within a large freestanding children's hospital. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 physicians, sampled purposively for their relevant content experience, and continued until the point of content saturation. Resulting data were coded using conventional content analysis by 2 coders; intercoder reliability was calculated as κ of 0.91. Coding disagreements were resolved through consultation with other authors.

RESULTS

Coding yielded 5 broad categories of "non-medical" factors that influenced physicians' decision to terminate resuscitation: legal and financial, parent-related, patient-related, physician-related, and resuscitation. When relevant, each factor was assigned a directionality tag indicating whether the factor influenced physicians to terminate a resuscitation, prolong a resuscitation, or not consider resuscitation. Seventy-eight unique factors were identified, 49 of which were defined by the research team as notable due to the frequency of their mention or novelty of concept.

CONCLUSION

Physicians consider numerous "non-medical" factors when terminating pediatric resuscitative efforts. Factors are tied largely to individual beliefs, attitudes, and values, and likely contribute to variability in practice. An increased understanding of the uncertainty that exists around termination of resuscitation may help physicians in objective clinical decision-making in similar situations.

Long-term retention assessment after simulation-based-training of pediatric procedural skills among adult emergency physicians: a multicenter observational study

BACKGROUND

One of the primary goals of simulation-based education is to enable long-term retention of training gains. However, medical literature has poorly contributed to understanding the best timing for repetition of simulation sessions. There is heterogeneity in re-training recommendations.

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed, through simulation-based training in different groups, the long-term retention of rare pediatric technical procedures.

METHODS

This multicenter observational study included 107 emergency physicians and residents. Eighty-eight were divided into four groups that were specifically trained for pediatric emergency procedures at different points in time between 2010 and 2015 (< 0.5 year prior for G1, between 0.5 and 2 years prior for G2, between 2 and 4 years prior for G3, and ≥ 4 years prior for G4). An untrained control group (C) included 19 emergency physicians. Participants were asked to manage an unconscious infant using a low-fidelity mannequin. Assessment was based on the performance at 6 specific tasks corresponding to airway (A) and ventilation (B) skills. The performance (scored on 100) was evaluated by the TAPAS scale (Team Average Performance Assessment Scale). Correlation between performance and clinical level of experience was studied.

RESULTS

There was a significant difference in performance between groups (p < 0.0001). For G1, 89% of the expected tasks were completed but resulted in longer delays before initiating actions than for the other groups. There was no difference between G4 and C with less than half of the tasks performed (47 and 43% respectively, p = 0.57). There was no correlation between clinical level of experience and performance (p = 0.39).

CONCLUSION

Performance decreased at 6 months after specific training for pediatric emergency skills, with total loss at 4 years after training, irrespective of experience. Repetition of simulation sessions should be implemented frequently after training to improve long-term retention and the optimal rate of refresher courses requires further research.

Family Presence During Resuscitation: The Education Needs of Critical Care Nurses

BACKGROUND

Education on family presence during resuscitation (FPDR) has been shown to improve critical care nurses' support for FPDR; however, there have been limited studies in this area. Exploring nurses' perceived needs related to FPDR education is important to design educational interventions to promote FPDR in practice.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to explore the FPDR education needs of critical care nurses to provide recommendations for future educational interventions.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey design was used, and descriptive and qualitative data were collected online in 2016. A convenience sample of 395 critical care nurses was obtained. Participants completed online surveys, and descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were conducted.

RESULTS

One-third of the participants had received FPDR education, and 83% desired to receive education on FPDR. Qualitative data revealed 4 themes: "nurses need education," "team training is important," "focus on implementation of FPDR," and "a variety of preferences."

DISCUSSION

Critical care nurses' reported needs for FPDR education are currently not being met. It is important for nurse educators and researchers to design and test educational interventions to meet nurses' needs for guidance on implementing FPDR in clinical practice. In particular, online and simulation approaches should be investigated.

Parent experience in the resuscitation room: how do they feel?

The aim of this study is to describe the experience of parents present in the resuscitation room during the attention given to their children in the pediatric emergency department, and to identify areas for improvement in this regard. This was a prospective study carried out in a third-level pediatric hospital. Children with life-threatening pathologies are treated in the resuscitation room of the pediatric emergency department. A survey was carried out among parents present in the resuscitation room during the period September 2016-August 2017. Excluded were the parents of children that died and those with a language barrier. The parents were interviewed in person or over the phone within 72 h of the care provided in the resuscitation room. Fifty surveys were completed (15 in person and 35 by phone). Forty mothers and 10 fathers responded, with an average age of 41. In the resuscitation room, 39 parents were accompanied by a health professional and 22 were given information about how the resuscitation room operated. The feelings most frequently reported by the parents were nervousness (39) and trust in the healthcare provided (20). All of the parents wished to be present. They felt that their presence was beneficial for the child (46), for themselves (50), and for the healthcare personnel (28).Conclusion: The experience of the parents in our resuscitation room is a positive one. Nevertheless, some aspects need to be improved, such as accompaniment of the parents and the information that they are provided. What is Known: • There is an international recommendation for parental presence during invasive procedures and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. • Few studies have been carried out on how parents in the resuscitation room feel and how they encounter the experience. What is New: • Even though most of the parents feel nervous in the resuscitation room, they expressed confidence in the medical team and they would wish to be present under similar circumstances.

Family Presence During Resuscitation: Physicians' Perceptions of Risk, Benefit, and Self-Confidence

BACKGROUND

Families often desire proximity to loved ones during life-threatening resuscitations and perceive clear benefits to being present. However, critical care nurses and physicians perceive risks and benefits. Whereas research is accumulating on nurses' perceptions of family presence, physicians' perspectives have not been clearly explicated. Psychometrically sound measures of physicians' perceptions are needed to create new knowledge and enhance collaboration among critical care nurses and physicians during resuscitation events.

OBJECTIVE

This study tests 2 new instruments that measure physicians' perceived risks, benefits, and self-confidence related to family presence during resuscitation.

METHODS

By a correlational design, a convenience sample of physicians (N = 195) from diverse clinical specialties in 1 hospital in the United States completed the Physicians' Family Presence Risk-Benefit Scale and Physicians' Family Presence Self-confidence Scale.

RESULTS

Findings supported the internal consistency reliability and construct validity of both new scales. Mean scale scores indicated that physicians perceived more risk than benefit and were confident in managing resuscitations with families present, although more than two-thirds reported feeling anxious. Higher self-confidence was significantly related to more perceived benefit and less perceived risk (P = .001). Younger physicians, family practice physicians, and physicians who previously had invited family presence expressed more positive perceptions (P = .05-.001).

DISCUSSION

These 2 new scales offer a means to assess key perceptions of physicians related to family presence. Further testing in diverse physician populations may further validate the scales and yield knowledge that can strengthen collaboration among critical care nurses and physicians and improve patient and family outcomes.

A qualitative study of factors in nurses' and physicians' decision-making related to family presence during resuscitation

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To explore the similarities and differences in factors that influence nurses' and physicians' decision-making related to family presence during resuscitation.

BACKGROUND

Despite the growing acceptance of family presence during resuscitation worldwide, healthcare professionals continue to debate the risks and benefits of family presence. As many hospitals lack a policy to guide family presence during resuscitation, decisions are negotiated by resuscitation teams, families and patients in crisis situations. Research has not clarified the factors that influence the decision-making processes of nurses and physicians related to inviting family presence. This is the first study to elicit written data from healthcare professionals to explicate factors in decision-making about family presence.

DESIGN

Qualitative exploratory-descriptive.

METHODS

Convenience samples of registered nurses (n = 325) and acute care physicians (n = 193) from a Midwestern hospital in the United States of America handwrote responses to open-ended questions about family presence. Through thematic analysis, decision-making factors for physicians and nurses were identified and compared.

RESULTS

Physicians and nurses evaluated three similar factors and four differing factors when deciding to invite family presence during resuscitation. Furthermore, nurses and physicians weighted the factors differently. Physicians weighted most heavily the family's potential to disrupt life-saving efforts and compromise patient care and then the family's knowledge about resuscitations. Nurses heavily weighted the potential for the family to be traumatised, the potential for the family to disrupt the resuscitation, and possible family benefit.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses and physicians considered both similar and different factors when deciding to invite family presence. Physicians focused on the patient primarily, while nurses focused on the patient, family and resuscitation team.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Knowledge of factors that influence the decision-making of interprofessional colleagues can improve collaboration and communication in crisis events of family presence during resuscitation.

Relatives' Presence During Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

BACKGROUND

The question of whether or not to allow family to be present during resuscitation is relevant to everyday professional health care assistance, but it remains largely unexplored in the medical literature.

OBJECTIVES

We conducted an online survey with the aim of increasing our knowledge and understanding of this issue.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional, multicenter, descriptive, national, and international study using a web-based, voluntary survey. The survey was designed and distributed through a medical website in Spanish, targeting physicians who frequently deal with critical patients.

RESULTS

A total of 1,286 Argentine physicians and 1,848 physicians from other countries responded to this voluntary survey. Of Argentine respondents, 15.8% (203) treat only children, 68.2% (877) treat adults, and 16% (206) treat patients of any age. The survey found that 23% (296) of Argentine and 20% of other respondents favor the presence of family members during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (p = 0.03). This practice was more common among physicians treating pediatric and neonatal patients than among those who treat adults. The most commonly reported reason (21.8%) for avoiding the presence of relatives was concerns that physicians, communications, and medical practices might be misunderstood or misinterpreted.

CONCLUSIONS

Avoiding relatives' presence while performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation is the most frequent choice made by the surveyed physicians who treat critical Argentine patients. The main causes for discouraging family presence during cardiopulmonary resuscitation or other critical procedures include the following: risk of misinterpretation of the physician's actions and/or words; risk of a relative's decompensation; uncertainty about possible reactions; and interpretation of the relative's presence as negative.

FAMILY PERCEPTION ABOUT THEIR PRESENCE OR NOT IN A PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY SITUATION

ABSTRACT The objective was to understand the perception of family members who experienced an emergency situation in relation to their presence or not during the child's treatment in the Pediatric Emergency Department. A qualitative study developed in a Pediatric Emergency Department. The study subjects consisted of ten relatives who had experienced an emergency situation. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews and data were submitted for thematic content analysis. The results showed that among the ten relatives interviewed only one said that they preferred not to remain with the child during the emergency situation. Regarding the clinical condition of the children, five of them had special health care needs. Previous negative situations had influenced the family member's choice of staying during the assistance. Considering the benefits of family presence, it is recommended that nursing teams develop strategies which can facilitate the inclusion of the family in child care in any situation, while respecting the uniqueness of each person.

[Ethics in pediatric emergencies: Care access, communication, and confidentiality]

Children suffer most from today's increasing precariousness. In France, access to care is available for all children through various structures and existing measures. The support for foreign children is overseen by specific legislation often unfamiliar to caregivers. Pediatric emergencies, their location, organization, actors, and patient flow are a particular environment that is not always suitable to communication and may lead to situations of abuse. Communication should not be forgotten because of the urgency of the situation. The place of the child in the dialogue is often forgotten. Considering the triangular relationship, listening to the child and involving the parents in care are the basis for a good therapeutic alliance. Privacy and medical confidentiality in pediatric emergencies are governed by law. However, changes in treatments and medical practices along with the variety of actors involved imply both individual and collective limitations, to the detriment of medical confidentiality.