Death and Dying in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients: A Prospective Multicenter, Multinational Study.

Background: For hospitalized children admitted outside of a critical care unit, the location, mode of death, "do-not-resuscitate" order (DNR) use, and involvement of palliative care teams have not been described across high-income countries. Objective: To describe location of death, patient and terminal care plan characteristics of pediatric inpatient deaths inside and outside the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Design: Secondary analysis of inpatient deaths in the Evaluating Processes of Care and Outcomes of Children in Hospital (EPOCH) randomized controlled trial. Setting/Subjects: Twenty-one centers from Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Measurement: Descriptive statistics were used to compare patient and terminal care plan characteristics. A multivariable generalized estimating equation examined if palliative care consult during hospital admission was associated with location of death. Results: A total of 365 of 144,539 patients enrolled in EPOCH died; 219 (60%) died in PICU and 143 (40%) died on another inpatient unit. Compared with other inpatient wards, patients who died in PICU were less likely to be expected to die, have a DNR or palliative care consult. Hospital palliative care consultation was more common in older children and independently associated with a lower adjusted odds (95% confidence interval) of dying in PICU [0.59 (0.52-0.68)]. Conclusion: Most pediatric inpatient deaths occur in PICU where patients were less likely to have a DNR or palliative care consult. Palliative care consultation could be better integrated into end-of-life care for younger children and those dying in PICU.

Assessing the electronic Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System: A simulation study on decision-making and usability.

BACKGROUND: The Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System (BedsidePEWS) is a clinical decision support tool designed to augment clinician expertise, objectively identify children at risk for clinical deterioration, and standardize and prioritize care to improve outcomes in community settings. Although the paper-based BedsidePEWS documentation record has been shown to improve clinicians' perception of their ability to detect deterioration and follow care recommendations, research is needed to asses this impact empirically. Furthermore, as hospitals progressively move toward electronic clinical systems, knowledge regarding the impact of BedsidePEWS' novel electronic interface on clinicians' performance and user experience is required. OBJECTIVES: The primary objectives of this study were (1) to compare adherence to evidence-based care recommendations using a) electronic health record software, b) paper BedsidePEWS, and c) a novel electronic BedsidePEWS interface, and (2) to describe end-users' experiences of usability and opportunities for improvement of both paper and electronic BedsidePEWS. METHODS: Paediatric nurses participated in a repeated measures simulation study. Participants assessed simulated patients, documented patient data, and responded to a series of questions regarding follow-up care for each patient. Three patient types (i.e., stable, mild deterioration, severe deterioration) were assessed in each of three intervention conditions (i.e., electronic health record, paper BedsidePEWS, electronic BedsidePEWS). Following simulation scenarios, participants provided comments regarding the usability of the paper and electronic tools. RESULTS: Participants made 12.7% and 18.0% more appropriate care decisions with paper and electronic BedsidePEWS, respectively, than with the electronic health record intervention (p < 0.001). Accurate BedsidePEWS severity of illness score calculation was related to better adherence to evidence-based care recommendations (65%), compared to inaccurate calculation (55%), and electronic BedsidePEWS was associated with 15.7% fewer calculation errors than paper (p < 0.005). Electronic BedsidePEWS demonstrated usability benefits over its paper predecessor, including automatic score calculation and data plotting, and the potential to eliminate double charting, and participants expressed a preference for electronic BedsidePEWS in all aspects of the debrief questionnaire (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: BedsidePEWS in both paper and electronic formats significantly improved participants' ability to detect deterioration and follow care recommendations compared to electronic health record software. Furthermore, results suggest that electronic BedsidePEWS would afford improved patient care in excess of the paper-based original and further contribute to the standardization, prioritization, and improvement of care in community settings.

Severe illness getting noticed sooner - SIGNS-for-Kids: developing an illness recognition tool to connect home and hospital.

Background: Delays to definitive treatment for time-sensitive acute paediatric illnesses continue to be a cause of death and disability in the Canadian healthcare system. Our aim was to develop the SIGNS-for-Kids illness recognition tool to empower parents and other community caregivers to recognise the signs and symptoms of severe illness in infants and children. The goal of the tool is improved detection and reduced time to treatment of acute conditions that require emergent medical attention. Methods: A single-day consensus workshop consisting of a 17-member panel of parents and multidisciplinary healthcare experts with content expertise and/or experience managing children with severe acute illnesses was held. An a priori agreement of ≥85% was planned for the final iteration SIGNS-for-Kids tool elements by the end of the workshop. Results: One hundred percent consensus was achieved on a five-item tool distilled from 20 initial items at the beginning of the consensus workshop. The final items included four child-based items consisting of: (1) behaviour, (2) breathing, (3) skin, and (4) fluids, and one context-based item and (5) response to rescue treatments. Conclusions: Specific cues of urgent child illness were identified as part of this initial development phase. These cues were integrated into a comprehensive tool designed for parents and other lay caregivers to recognise the signs of serious acute illness and initiate medical attention in an undifferentiated population of infants and children. Future validation and optimisation of the tool are planned.

Multicentre validation of the bedside paediatric early warning system score: a severity of illness score to detect evolving critical illness in hospitalised children.

INTRODUCTION: The timely provision of critical care to hospitalised patients at risk for cardiopulmonary arrest is contingent upon identification and referral by frontline providers. Current approaches require improvement. In a single-centre study, we developed the Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System (Bedside PEWS) score to identify patients at risk. The objective of this study was to validate the Bedside PEWS score in a large patient population at multiple hospitals. METHODS: We performed an international, multicentre, case-control study of children admitted to hospital inpatient units with no limitations on care. Case patients had experienced a clinical deterioration event involving either an immediate call to a resuscitation team or urgent admission to a paediatric intensive care unit. Control patients had no events. The scores ranged from 0 to 26 and were assessed in the 24 hours prior to the clinical deterioration event. Score performance was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUCROC) curve by comparison with the retrospective rating of nurses and the temporal progression of scores in case patients. RESULTS: A total of 2,074 patients were evaluated at 4 participating hospitals. The median (interquartile range) maximum Bedside PEWS scores for the 12 hours ending 1 hour before the clinical deterioration event were 8 (5 to 12) in case patients and 2 (1 to 4) in control patients (P < 0.0001). The AUCROC curve (95% confidence interval) was 0.87 (0.85 to 0.89). In case patients, mean scores were 5.3 at 20 to 24 hours and 8.4 at 0 to 4 hours before the event (P < 0.0001). The AUCROC curve (95% CI) of the retrospective nurse ratings was 0.83 (0.81 to 0.86). This was significantly lower than that of the Bedside PEWS score (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The Bedside PEWS score identified children at risk for cardiopulmonary arrest. Scores were elevated and continued to increase in the 24 hours before the clinical deterioration event. Prospective clinical evaluation is needed to determine whether this score will improve the quality of care and patient outcomes.

Implementing the Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System in a community hospital: A prospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: Late transfer of children with critical illness from community hospitals undermines the advantages of community-based care. It was hypothesized that implementation of the Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System (Bedside PEWS) would reduce late transfers. METHODS: A prospective before-and-after study was performed in a community hospital 22-bed inpatient paediatric ward. The primary outcome, significant clinical deterioration, was a composite measure of circulatory and respiratory support before transfer. Secondary outcomes were stat calls and resuscitation team calls, paediatrician workload and perceptions of frontline staff. RESULTS: Care was evaluated for 842 patient-days before and 2350 patient-days after implementation. The median inpatient census was 13. Implementation of the Bedside PEWS was associated with fewer stat calls to paediatricians (22.6 versus 5.1 per 1000 patient-days; P<0.0001), fewer significant clinical deterioration events (2.4 versus 0.43 per 1000 patient-days; P=0.013), reduced apprehension when calling the physician and no change in paediatrician workload. DISCUSSION: Implementation of the Bedside PEWS is feasible and safe, and may improve clinical outcomes.

Development and initial validation of the Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System score.

INTRODUCTION: Adverse outcomes following clinical deterioration in children admitted to hospital wards is frequently preventable. Identification of children for referral to critical care experts remains problematic. Our objective was to develop and validate a simple bedside score to quantify severity of illness in hospitalized children. METHODS: A case-control design was used to evaluate 11 candidate items and identify a pragmatic score for routine bedside use. Case-patients were urgently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Control-patients had no 'code blue', ICU admission or care restrictions. Validation was performed using two prospectively collected datasets. RESULTS: Data from 60 case and 120 control-patients was obtained. Four out of eleven candidate-items were removed. The seven-item Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System (PEWS) score ranges from 0-26. The mean maximum scores were 10.1 in case-patients and 3.4 in control-patients. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.91, compared with 0.84 for the retrospective nurse-rating of patient risk for near or actual cardiopulmonary arrest. At a score of 8 the sensitivity and specificity were 82% and 93%, respectively. The score increased over 24 hours preceding urgent paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission (P < 0.0001). In 436 urgent consultations, the Bedside PEWS score was higher in patients admitted to the ICU than patients who were not admitted (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: We developed and performed the initial validation of the Bedside PEWS score. This 7-item score can quantify severity of illness in hospitalized children and identify critically ill children with at least one hours notice. Prospective validation in other populations is required before clinical application.