Examining the Needs of Bereaved Parents in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study

Authors: Meert, Kathleen¹; Briller, Sherylyn²; Myers Schim, Stephanie³; Thurston, Celia⁴; Kabel, Allison⁵

Source: Death Studies, Volume 33, Number 8, September 2009 , pp. 712-740(29)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

The pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) is a high-tech setting aimed at restoring health to critically ill children. When childhood death occurs in the PICU, it constitutes a special context for parent bereavement. The purpose of this interdisciplinary qualitative research was to gain a deeper understanding of parents' needs around the time of their child's death in the PICU. Through interviews and focus groups with bereaved parents and hospital chaplains, categories of parents' needs emerged. Deeper understanding of parents' needs will allow health professionals to better support parents during bereavement as well as to provide more customized care.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07481180903070434

Affiliations: 1: Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA 2: Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA 3: College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA 4: Center to Advance Palliative-Care Excellence, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA 5: Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Allied Health, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

Publication date: 2009-09-01

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