Gina Santucci

Partners in pediatric palliative care: a program to enhance collaboration between hospital and community palliative care services.

The provision of high-quality palliative care services to dying children and their families often requires extensive collaboration between hospital-based and community-based care teams. This article describes the origins and development of the Partners in Pediatric Palliative Care program, which has provided pediatric-specific educational offerings and fostered joint endeavors between a palliative care service located in a tertiary care childrens hospital and a wide range of hospice and home care agencies in 5 states. The Partners in Pediatric Palliative Care program is evaluated in terms of the favorable ratings that attendees have given the educational components, the relatively modest direct costs of mounting the regional meetings, and the expanded capacity to provide home-based palliative services to children and families who desire them. The Partners in Pediatric Palliative Care program provides another feasible means for hospitals and community agencies to work together to improve pediatric palliative care.

Methylnaltrexone for opioid-induced constipation in patients at the end of life

International Journal of Palliative Nursing 2015, Vol 21, No 4

Caring for the Infant With Trisomy 18: The Bioethical Implications of Treatment Decisions on Nurses

Infants born with trisomy 18 have multiple congenital abnormalities and shortened life spans. Advances in medical and surgical technology have provided some families with choices to optimize care. Given the differing outcomes that exist for infants born with trisomy 18, several questions are raised that carry weighty ethical implications. A case study will be discussed to illustrate the ethical dilemmas that nurses encounter when caring for infants with Trisomy 18. These dilemmas include the following: (1) When is it ethical to limit options offered for medical interventions? (2) Who makes decisions when options for medical interventions are considered futile? (3) What principles guide decisions about care? (4) What options are available to nurses when they do not agree with family members about suffering?