title: Informing parents about the actual or impending death of their infant in a newborn intensive care unit.
abstract: Modern perinatal and neonatal care practices have increased survival of infants that in previous care eras would have perished. The majority of infants admitted to a newborn intensive care unit following delivery currently do well and are discharged home. Unfortunately for others, the ultimate outcome may be death. The death of a newborn infant is clearly a devastating loss to parents. How parents are informed of their infant's actual or impending death can either add to a grief reaction, or help support parents through their loss. The literature supports that most healthcare professionals frequently feel inept while discussing the death of a newborn with the baby's family. This article will present parents' descriptions of what helped or did not help when they were informed of their infant's inevitable death. It will also demonstrate how simulation may be effective in improving communication of bad or sad news to families in a manner that sustains them in the immediate present, as well as adds to their future well-being.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Medical Branch and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Program, Galveston, Texas 77555, USA. dcarment@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Debra
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Armentrout
authors.forename: Leigh Ann
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Cates
mesh_terms: D003144:Communication Barriers; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D016544:Patient Simulation; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D012944:Social Support; D013192:Staff Development / Q000379:methods; D013727:Terminal Care; D013781:Texas