title: Communicating the death of a child in the emergency department: managing dialectical tensions.
abstract: This study highlighted the tensions that physicians face when communicating the death of a child to parents. Ten pediatric physicians participated in interviews in which they were asked to provide specific details about end-of-life discussions they have had with families in pediatric emergency rooms. From these findings, it is evident that physicians are required to balance multiple external and internal tensions embedded in these difficult conversations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication, University of Texas-Pan-American, Edinburg, USA. P2575@mail.utexas.edu
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Parker-Raley
authors.forename: Barbara L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: R Todd
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Maxson
mesh_terms: D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D011361:Professional Competence; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D014342:Truth Disclosure