Pediatric Perspectives on Palliative Care in the Neurocritical Care Unit

Pediatric neurocritical care teams care for patients and families facing the potential for significant neurologic impairment and high mortality. Such admissions are often marked by significant prognostic uncertainty, high levels of parental emotional overload, and multiple potentially life-altering decision points. In addition to clinical acumen, families desire clear and consistent communication, supported decision-making, a multidisciplinary approach to psychosocial supports throughout an admission, and comprehensive bereavement support after a death. Distinct from their adult counterparts, pediatric providers care for a broader set of rare diagnoses with limited prognostic information. Decision-making requires its own ethical framework, with substitutive judgment giving way to the best interest standard as well as “good parent” narratives. When a child dies, bereavement support is often needed for the broader community. There will always be a role for specialist palliative care consultation in the pediatric neurocritical care unit, but the care of every patient and family will be well served by improving these primary palliative care skills.