title: End-of-life care in pediatrics: ethics, controversies, and optimizing the quality of death.
abstract: Hospitalized children constitute most annual pediatric deaths in the United States. The details of "how-to" provide end-of-life (EOL) care are not consistently taught to staff and therefore the actual delivery of EOL care is often inconsistent and invariably negatively associated with the long-term mental health of both the patient's family and care providers. This review describes the pertinent aspects of end-of-life care in pediatrics. Finally, a framework to optimize the quality of death is described, which underscores the importance of synchrony between the care team and the family at the end of a child's life.
authors: Division of Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. Rajit.basu@cchmc.org
authors: Rajit K
authors: RK
authors: Basu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010372:Pediatrics; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult