No More Excuses: Having tough talks in pediatrics

“What words can be uttered? Your turn just slightly and there it is: the death of your child. It is part symbol, part devil, and in your blind spot all along, until, if you are unlucky, it is completely upon you. Then it is a fierce little country abducting you; it holds you squarely inside itself like a cellar room – the best boundaries of you are the boundaries of it.” – Shirley Jackson, from “People Like That Are the Only People Here,” in Birds of America* *             *             * “Doctor, you might have children just like anybody else. Would you want somebody to give you false hope or tell you, ‘OK, your child is gonna be fine,’ and you know she’s not?”  - Parent feedback (Meert et al) *             *             * “Barriers to resuscitation status discussions were ranked according to the percentage of physicians and nurses who identified the issues as often or always a barrier. The top 3 barriers were unrealistic parent expectations (39.1%), lack of parent readiness to have the discussions (38.8%), and differences between clinician and patient/parent understanding of the prognosis (30.4%).”  - Sanderson et al.  *             *&...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Carer Workers Authors: Source Type: blogs