Parental Views on Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Therapies in Critically Ill Children

Talking With Parents About End-of-Life Decisions for Their Children

“…10,12,[21][22][23]26,27,31,[36][37][38] Our findings indicate that in actual conversations parents act in line with this preference. Most parents in our study made an effort to actively participate in the decision-making process, especially when their initial preferences regarding the course of treatment did not correspond with those of the medical team.…”

The Role of Professional Chaplains on Pediatric Palliative Care Teams: Perspectives from Physicians and Chaplains

“…In these PPC programs, chaplains were active and valued team members. The PPC medical directors described chaplains' contributions to critical issues that have also been described in the PPC literature including patient/ family spiritual suffering 16,21,22 improving family-staff communication, 21,23-28 and providing rituals for families and staff. The active involvement of chaplains in these PPC programs is consistent with recent consensus guidelines for palliative care.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Research also suggests that childrens' [12][13][14] and parents' [15][16][17][18][19] spirituality is integral to coping with serious or terminal illness. While research and clinical practice guidelines affirm the importance of spiritual care in PPC little is known about how PPC programs meet the spiritual needs of their patients and families.…”

Parents' Thoughts and Perceptions on Hearing that Their Child Has Incurable Cancer

“…4,5 Some studies suggest that parents' decisions regarding end-of-life care for their child are related to the child's wishes and quality of life (QOL), the parents' values, parental expectations of cure, and professional information and recommendations. 4,[6][7][8][9] Hinds and collegues 10,11 reported that the core premise of parental decision making pertaining to incurable cancer is ''being a good parent.'' Further, it is also important for parents to properly understand their child's condition when they opt to care for their child at home at the end of the child's life.…”

“…Further, it is also important for parents to properly understand their child's condition when they opt to care for their child at home at the end of the child's life. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Yet another study highlighted that even though health care professionals are aware of the incurable nature of the child's cancer, parents do not recognize this eventuality. 2 They have difficulty accepting their child's impending death.…”