Family teaching toolbox. A parents' guide to palliative care.
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Humans↗
Biomedical subjects
Gay Gale
Publications and source records attributed to Gay Gale.
Implementing a palliative care program in a newborn intensive care unit.
In the United States the majority of infants who die in the first 27 days end their lives in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This article describes the implementation of a NICU-based team approach to providing end-of-life care to dying infants and their families. Timeline, activities, and resultant improvements in family care and staff support are described. Moral distress among nurses caring for dying infants is discussed. A case study, neonatal palliative care policy, palliative care pathway, and lactation suppression guidelines for mothers following infant death are presented. More research is needed to verify improvements in neonatal, family, and staff support with palliative care programs in the NICU.
Humans↗
Parents' perceptions of their infant's pain experience in the NICU.
Despite numerous advances in the recognition, assessment, and management of pain in neonates over the past two decades, there has been limited improvement in the knowledge base regarding parental responses to their infant's pain. This study examined parents' views of their experiences observing and coping with their infant's pain in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Twelve participants were recruited using purposive sampling from two groups: (a) parents who had infants currently receiving care in the NICU (n=6); and (b) parents whose infants had been discharged from the NICU and were enrolled in the outpatient follow-up clinic at each hospital (n=6). An exploratory, semi-structured format was used to interview parents individually (n=5) or in focus groups (n=7) regarding their infant's clinical course, infant pain experiences, and the parenting experience during and after the NICU stay. Thematic content analysis was used to develop conceptual categories. Two broad themes were identified: (a) infant pain as a source of parental distress and (b) relief of parental distress due to infant's pain.
Adaptation, Psychological↗
Infant holding policies and practices in neonatal units.
PURPOSE: To describe neonatal unit policies and practices regarding the holding of infants by parents. DESIGN: U.S. national cross-sectional descriptive survey. SAMPLE: Nurses representing 215 neonatal units providing regional-level (22 percent), community-level (45 percent), and intermediate-level (33 percent) care. MAIN OUTCOME VARIABLE: Proportion of respondents who reported neonatal intensive care unit criteria permitting parents and family members to hold their infant by conventional and skin-to-skin methods. RESULTS: All but one of the neonatal units offered parents the chance to hold their extubated infants conventionally; 73 percent offered parents to hold their extubated infants skin-to-skin. Sixty-four percent of neonatal units offered parents the option to hold their intubated infants conventionally. In contrast, only 45 percent of the units offered parents to hold their intubated infants skin-to-skin. Factors that influenced parental holding practices included potential benefits to infants and parents, concerns about infant safety, and level of support from neonatal staff members.
Attitude of Health Personnel↗