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Review
. 2020 Mar 1;29(2):111-121.
doi: 10.4037/ajcc2020466.

Defining a "Good Death" in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Elizabeth G Broden  1 , Janet Deatrick  2 , Connie Ulrich  3 , Martha A Q Curley  4
Affiliations
Review

Defining a "Good Death" in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Elizabeth G Broden et al. Am J Crit Care. .

Abstract

Background: Societal attitudes about end-of-life events are at odds with how, where, and when children die. In addition, parents' ideas about what constitutes a "good death" in a pediatric intensive care unit vary widely.

Objective: To synthesize parents' perspectives on end-of-life care in the pediatric intensive care unit in order to define the characteristics of a good death in this setting from the perspectives of parents.

Methods: A concept analysis was conducted of parents' views of a good death in the pediatric intensive care unit. Empirical studies of parents who had experienced their child's death in the inpatient setting were identified through database searches.

Results: The concept analysis allowed the definition of antecedents, attributes, and consequences of a good death. Empirical referents and exemplar cases of care of a dying child in the pediatric intensive care unit serve to further operationalize the concept.

Conclusions: Conceptual knowledge of what constitutes a good death from a parent's perspective may allow pediatric nurses to care for dying children in a way that promotes parents' coping with bereavement and continued bonds and memories of the deceased child. The proposed conceptual model synthesizes characteristics of a good death into actionable attributes to guide bedside nursing care of the dying child.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) search strategy diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Conceptual model of relationship of antecedents and consequences to attributes of a good death in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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