Minds in the Making

Pediatric End-of-Life Care: Available Services, Care Providers’ Experiences, and Patient Needs

This presentation of the author’s honors project was given at a Nursing Department Seminar at Calvin College on May 7, 2009.

Each year, over 55,000 children die in the United States and more than half of these children and infants die in inpatient settings.  Although pediatric end-of-life care can be a particularly difficult subject to broach, it is imperative that these children receive high quality palliative care.  The objective of this project was to investigate research on pediatric end-of-life care, focusing on the services available to families, the experiences of the care providers, and patient needs at the end of life.  Care of the pediatric patient at the end of life must be comprehensive and the nurse must above all else advocate for the patient to whom care is provided.  Nursing responsibilities in end-of-life care are extensive and include providing holistic care focused on the physical, emotional, and spiritual elements of each and every person. 

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