title: Novice Nurses' Experiences With Palliative and End-of-Life Communication.
abstract: Health care providers recognize that delivery of effective communication with family members of children with life-threatening illnesses is essential to palliative and end-of-life care (PC/EOL). Parents value the presence of nurses during PC/EOL of their dying child. It is vital that nurses, regardless of their years of work experience, are competent and feel comfortable engaging family members of dying children in PC/EOL discussions. This qualitative-descriptive study used focus groups to explore the PC/EOL communication perspectives of 14 novice pediatric oncology nurses (eg, with less than 1 year of experience). Audio-taped focus group discussions were reviewed to develop the following 6 theme categories: (a) Sacred Trust to Care for the Child and Family, (b) An Elephant in the Room, (c) Struggling with Emotional Unknowns, (d) Kaleidoscope of Death: Patterns and Complexity, (e) Training Wheels for Connectedness: Critical Mentors during PC/EOL of Children, and (f) Being Present with an Open Heart: Ways to Maintain Hope and Minimize Emotional Distress. To date, this is the first study to focus on PC/EOL communication perspectives of novice pediatric oncology nurses.
authors.affiliation: Saint Louis University, School of Nursing, St Louis, MO, USA hendrivl@slu.edu.
authors.forename: Verna L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Hendricks-Ferguson
authors.affiliation: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Sawin
authors.affiliation: American Family Children's Hospital, Madison, WI, USA.
authors.forename: Kitty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.affiliation: US Navy Retired Captain, Greensboro, NC.
authors.forename: Claretta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dupree
authors.affiliation: Indiana University, School of Nursing, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Celeste R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Phillips-Salimi
authors.affiliation: St Louis Children's Hospital, St Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Barb
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.affiliation: Indiana University, School of Nursing, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Joan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Haase
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003142:Communication; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000379:methods; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000379:methods; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: end-of-life communication; palliative care; pediatric oncology nurses