Providing Information and End-of-life Care to Parents of Children in the PICU

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K10920
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 58070:Lifelong developmental nursing-related
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: SAIKI-CRAIGHILL Shigeko 慶應義塾大学, 看護医療学部(信濃町), 教授 (10161845)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 西名 諒平 神奈川県立保健福祉大学, 保健福祉学部, 講師 (70770577) ; 宗 皓 慶應義塾大学, 看護医療学部(信濃町), 助教 (80876970)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 小児集中治療室 / end-of-lifeケア / ターミナルケア / 情報共有

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Due to the spread of the Covid 19, we revised our research plan and focused on elements that could be collected with a remote conferencing system. We studied medical professionals who worked with the parents of children at the end-of-life stage in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) . We looked at how these medical professionals grasped the situation of the parents and how they developed their approach toward the families. As a result of interviewing 34 nurses and analyzing the collected data, the phenomenon of “Supporting from Behind” was revealed.
In addition, we analyzed observational data from 15 situations where families visited children in PICUs as well as interview data from 15 medical professionals collected before the start of this grant, and were able to clarify the phenomenon of “Making a Place for Siblings”.

Free Research Field

小児看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究を通して、PICUで終末期と判断された子どもの両親に対して、看護師が、他の医療者と協力し、両親の意向に配慮しながら闘病環境を整え、家族がよい時間を過ごすことができるように【看取りへの後押し】をしていることが分かった。同時に、適切な【看取りへの後押し】を行うためには、情報を医療者間で共有することや、医療者自身が疲弊しないようにサポートし合うことが重要であることもわかった。本研究の結果は、プリミティブながらも、今後のPICUにおけるend-of-lifeケアの検討につながるものであると考える。