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Neonatal palliative care: perception differences between providers

Journal of Perinatology volume 40, pages 1802–1808 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this study was to describe differences and identify education gaps in the perception of palliative care (PC) between neonatal care providers in a Level IV Neonatal intensive care unit.

Study design

This is a descriptive survey mixed methods study. Email surveys were sent to social workers, pharmacists, dieticians, nurses, respiratory therapists, fellows and faculty in November of 2018. Total number of respondents was 181 with a response rate of 56%.

Results

Statistically significant differences between faculty and non-faculty were found in regards to benefits of early PC consults, need for automatic consults for certain diagnosis and the frequency of PC consults.

Conclusion

The perception of PC differs greatly between faculty and non-faculty. Educational initiatives surrounding PC and communication along with instituting automatic consults for certain diagnosis could help bridge this difference in perception and educational gap.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Jason Z. Niehaus

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Megan M. Palmer PhD

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    James Slaven MS MA

  4. Division Palliative Care, Riley Hospital for Children, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Amy Hatton MSN CPNP, Caitlin Scanlon MSW LCSW & Adam B. Hill MD

Authors
  1. Jason Z. Niehaus
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  2. Megan M. Palmer PhD
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  3. James Slaven MS MA
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  4. Amy Hatton MSN CPNP
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  5. Caitlin Scanlon MSW LCSW
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  6. Adam B. Hill MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason Z. Niehaus.

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Niehaus, J.Z., Palmer, M.M., Slaven, J. et al. Neonatal palliative care: perception differences between providers. J Perinatol 40, 1802–1808 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0714-1

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