Pediatric Palliative Care - Essay Example

From that point of view, implementation of pediatric palliative care would need to involve palliative care networks and all children's services (Carroll et al., 2007). The key feature of pediatric palliative care is involvement of the adults, in many cases who are parents. The right for families to have their views heard is of prime importance. This right extends to research, and the research should incorporate an adequate representation of the reality of lived experiences of both the children and their caregivers.

Small-scale research findings on their own are unlikely to play a crucial role in policy-making or provision. It has been expected that the impact of the evidence may gradually enter into the thinking of policymakers and practitioners (Rallison and Moules, 2004). Palliative care nursing that support the life-limited children and their families must draw on the findings from the relevant recent research. In this assignment, the palliative care nursing and its role will be described followed by an examination of best practices as evidenced in recent literature.

Palliative care services have rich opportunities to support children and their families through living out their stated ethos in practice. Pediatric palliative care with its broad approach to symptom management, psychosocial, spiritual, and practical care has the potential to help enormously in the care and relief of suffering of these children and their families, particularly as it is relatively inexpensive. In other words, pediatric palliative care embraces a philosophy that attends to the psychological, physical, spiritual and social needs of the child and their family (Maunder, 2006).

This care has been described as a concept where there is a shift of emphasis from conventional care that focuses on quantity of life towards a commitment to care which enhances quality of life. It has been recommended that palliative care should be an integral part of clinical practice, available to all child patients. Such a philosophy presents a major challenge both clinically and culturally, demanding that all providers including nurses work together to ensure seamless care that will meet the needs of medically vulnerable young people and their families (Powaski, 2006).

Increasing numbers of very sick children are surviving as a result of advances in medicine and nursing. Many children die in a year as a result of progressive conditions needing palliative care. Some have a life-limiting condition with some palliative care needs, for half of whom the needs will be substantial. Evidence suggests that while some undergraduate medical and nursing educational programs provide a general overview of palliative care, they often include only a brief review of the pediatric specialty.

A model for structured reflection on palliative care nursing has been described that focused on exploration of the challenges of palliative care nursing. The model was based on 6 types of knowledge or ways of knowing, scientific, personal, socio-political, spiritual, ethical, and aesthetic. The model required nurses to reflect on the aims of the professional interactions, and the sources of the knowledge used for specific types of practice in palliation. It also included questions focused on whether actions were consistent with beliefs of patient autonomy, promotion of quality of life, compassionate care, family involvement, and symptom control (Souter,