End-of-life care in the pediatric intensive care unit: research review and recommendations

Improving the quality of end-of-life care has become a national health care priority. A necessary step in this process in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) is examining the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of pediatric critical care practitioners in this area. In addition, the perspectives of bereaved parents must be uncovered as well. In this article, the empirical data in the literature on end-of-life care in the pediatric ICU are reviewed, common ethical controversies in this environment are discussed, and promising interventions for the future are presented.