Defining a "Good Death" in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Elizabeth G Broden, Janet Deatrick, Connie Ulrich and 1 others
PMID 32114610WHAT IT FOUND
For parents whose child is dying in a PICU, a good death meant compassionate staff communication, comfort care, time and privacy with their child, and emotional or spiritual support.
Key findings
01The analysis grouped what parents considered important in a good PICU death into clinical, situational, and emotional or spiritual factors.
02Clinical factors included compassionate staff, accessible honest communication, and care that values the child and keeps them free of pain.
03Situational factors included practical support for parents to be present, have time and privacy, and create memories reflecting the child's life.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The literature search was done by one reviewer, although the other authors agreed on the analysis. The search was limited to nursing literature, so relevant work from other fields may have been missed. The conceptual model has not been validated. The paper synthesizes existing literature rather than measuring outcomes in a new group of patients or families. It excluded abstracts, case narratives, and articles about euthanasia or assisted suicide. It used full-text, peer-reviewed English-language articles only, so non-English work was not included.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that these care practices improve a good death or reduce parental grief. It is a concept analysis of existing literature, and the authors state the model requires validation.