Evidence · Systematic review or meta-analysis
Ethics and end-of-life in pediatric and neonatal ICUs: a systematic review of recommendations.
- Comfort and nursing care
- Communicating with families
- Ethics
- Families and professional practice
- Medical
- Nursing
- Palliative and end-of-life care
Summary
This systematic review analyses the ethical content of expert guidelines and recommendations on end-of-life decision-making in neonatal and paediatric intensive care units, published between 2001 and 2021. Nine papers (four NICU-focused, five PICU-focused) addressing withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, palliative care and life-terminating actions were included. Thirty-eight ethical positions were identified and grouped into themes relating to patients, parents, the medical team, decision-making and treatment options. Beneficence emerged as the central ethical principle, with decisions framed around the child's best interests.
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- Licence:
- Open (Creative Commons)
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Guidelines are shown for education. Follow your unit's own guidance and senior advice.