title: Caring for children who die unexpectedly: patterns that emerge out of chaos.
abstract: Despite medical advances in technology, improved socioeconomics, and medical knowledge, an estimated 55,000 children die every year in the United States. A phenomenological study was conducted at a tertiary-quaternary children's hospital to determine the emerging patterns amidst the chaos with nurses caring for children dying unexpectedly. Implications for nursing practice include a progression of caring, a set of patterns that emerge out of the seeming chaos of a coding patient. These patterns shed light on the interactive relationships within the hospital and can foster collaboration among bedside nurses, advanced practice nurses, inter-professional team members, directors, and hospital administrators.
authors.affiliation: California Baptist University, Riverside, CA. Electronic address: rmeyer@calbaptist.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Meyer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001293:Attitude to Death; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010371:Pediatric Nursing; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: Children; Dying; Nurses