Evaluating the Validity of the Responses to Illness Severity Quantification Score to Discriminate Illness Severity and Level of Care Transitions in Hospitalized Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the validity of the Responses to Illness Severity Quantification (RISQ) score to discriminate illness severity and transitions between levels of care during hospitalization. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective observational study conducted in Maiduguri, Nigeria, enrolled inpatients aged 1-59 months with severe acute malnutrition. The primary outcome was the RISQ score associated with the patient state. Heart and respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, respiratory effort, oxygen use, temperature, and level of consciousness are summed to calculate the RISQ score. Five states were defined by levels of care and hospital discharge outcome. The states were classified hierarchically, reflecting illness severity: hospital mortality was the most severe state, then intensive care unit (ICU), care in the stabilization phase (SP), care in the rehabilitation phase (RP), and lowest severity, survival at hospital discharge. A multistate statistical model examined performance of the RISQ score in predicting clinical states and transitions. RESULTS: Of 903 children enrolled (mean age, 14.6 months), 63 (7%) died. Mean RISQ scores during care in each phase were 3.5 (n = 2265) in the ICU, 1.7 (n = 6301) in the SP, and 1.5 (n = 2377) in the RP. Mean scores and HRs for a 3-point change in score at transitions: ICU to death, 6.9 (HR, 1.80); SP to ICU, 2.8 (HR, 2.00); ICU to SP, 2.0 (HR, 0.5); and RP to discharge, 1.4 (HR, 0.91). CONCLUSIONS: The RISQ score can discriminate between points of escalation or de-escalation of care and reflects illness severity in hospitalized children with severe acute malnutrition. Evaluation of clinical implementation and demonstration of benefit will be important before widespread adoption.

Escalation of care in children at high risk of clinical deterioration in a tertiary care children's hospital using the Bedside Pediatric Early Warning System.

BACKGROUND: Escalation and de-escalation are a routine part of high-quality care that should be matched with clinical needs. The aim of this study was to describe escalation of care in relation to the occurrence and timing of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) admission in a cohort of pediatric inpatients with acute worsening of their clinical condition. METHODS: A monocentric, observational cohort study was performed from January to December 2018. Eligible patients were children: 1) admitted to one of the inpatient wards other than ICU; 2) under the age of 18 years at the time of admission; 3) with two or more Bedside-Paediatric-Early-Warning-System (BedsidePEWS) scores ≥ 7 recorded at a distance of at least one hour and for a period of 4 h during admission. The main outcome -the 24-h disposition - was defined as admission to PICU within 24-h of enrolment or staying in the inpatient ward. Escalation of care was measured using an eight-point scale-the Escalation Index (EI), developed by the authors. The EI was calculated every 6 h, starting from the moment the patient was considered eligible. Analyses used multivariate quantile and logistic regression models. RESULTS: The 228 episodes included 574 EI calculated scores. The 24-h disposition was the ward in 129 (57%) and the PICU in 99 (43%) episodes. Patients who were admitted to PICU within 24-h had higher top EI scores [median (IQR) 6 (5-7) vs 4 (3-5), p < 0.001]; higher initial BedsidePEWS scores [median (IQR) 10(8-13) vs. 9 (8-11), p = 0.02], were less likely to have a chronic disease [n = 62 (63%) vs. n = 127 (98%), p < 0.0001], and were rated by physicians as being at a higher risk of having a cardiac arrest (p = 0.01) than patients remaining on the ward. The EI increased over 24 h before urgent admission to PICU or cardiac arrest by 0.53 every 6-h interval (CI 0.37-0.70, p < 0.001), while it decreased by 0.25 every 6-h interval (CI -0.36-0.15, p < 0.001) in patients who stayed on the wards. CONCLUSION: Escalation of care was related to temporal changes in severity of illness, patient background and environmental factors. The EI index can improve responses to evolving critical illness.

Development and an initial validation of the Responses to Illness Severity Quantification (RISQ) score for severely malnourished children.

AIM: To develop and perform an initial validation of a score to measure the severity of illness in hospitalised children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM). METHODS: A prospective study enrolled SAM children aged 6-59 months hospitalised in Borno State, Nigeria. Candidate items associated with inpatient mortality were combined and evaluated as candidate scores. Clinical and statistical methods were used to identify a preferred score. RESULTS: The 513 children enrolled had a mean age of 15.6 months of whom 48 (9%) died. Seven of the 10 evaluated items were significantly associated with mortality. Five different candidate scores were tested. The final score, Responses to Illness Severity Quantification (RISQ), included seven items: heart rate, respiratory rate, respiratory effort, oxygen saturation, oxygen delivery, temperature and level of consciousness. The mean RISQ score on admission was 2.6 in hospital survivors and 7.3 for children dying <48 h. RISQ scores <24 h before death had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.93. The RISQ score performed similarly across differing clinical conditions with AUROCs 0.77-0.98 for all conditions except oedema. CONCLUSION: The RISQ score can identify high-risk malnourished children at and during hospital admission. Clinical application may help prioritise care and potentially improve survival.

Implementing a complex hospital innovation: conceptual underpinnings, program design and implementation of a complex innovation in an international multi-site hospital trial.

BACKGROUND: Designing implementation programs that effectively integrate complex healthcare innovations into complex settings is a fundamental aspect of knowledge translation. We describe the development of a conceptually grounded implementation program for a complex healthcare innovation and its subsequent application in pediatric hospital settings. METHODS: We conducted multiple case observations of the application of the Phased Reciprocal Implementation Synergy Model (PRISM) framework in the design and operationalization of an implementation program for a complex hospital wide innovation in pediatric hospital settings. RESULTS: PRISM informed the design and delivery of 10 international hospital wide implementations of the complex innovation, BedsidePEWS. Implementation and innovation specific goals, overarching implementation program design principles, and a phased-based, customizable, and context responsive implementation program including innovation specific tools and evaluation plans emerged from the experience. CONCLUSION: Theoretically grounded implementation approaches customized for organizational contexts are feasible for the adoption and integration of this complex hospital-wide innovation. Attention to the fitting of the innovation to local practices, setting, organizational culture and end-user preferences can be achieved while maintaining the integrity of the innovation.

Risk factors for unplanned paediatric intensive care unit admission after anaesthesia-an international multicentre study.

Objectives: Unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admissions are associated with near-miss events, morbidity, and mortality. We describe the rate, resource utilization, and outcomes of paediatric patients urgently admitted directly to ICU post-anaesthesia compared to other sources of unplanned ICU admissions. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from specialist paediatric hospitals in 7 countries. Patients urgently admitted to the ICU post-anaesthesia were combined and matched with 1 to 3 unique controls from unplanned ICU admissions from other locations by age and hospital. Demographic, clinical, and outcome variables were compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous variables and chi-square or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. The effect of admission sources on binary outcomes was estimated using univariable conditional logistic regression models with stratification by matched set of anaesthesia and non-anaesthesia admission sources. Results: Most admissions were <1 year of age and for respiratory reasons. Admissions post-anaesthesia were shorter, occurred later in the day, and were more likely to be mechanically ventilated. Admissions post-anaesthesia were less likely to have had a previous ICU admission (4.8% compared to 11%, P=0.032) or PIM 'high-risk diagnosis' (9.5% versus 17.2%, P=0.035) but there was no difference in the number of subsequent ICU admissions. There was no difference in the PIM severity of illness score and no mortality difference between the groups. Conclusions: Young children and respiratory indications dominated unplanned ICU admissions post-anaesthesia, which was more likely later in the day and with mechanical ventilation.

In-House, Overnight Physician Staffing: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Canadian Adult ICUs.

OBJECTIVES: Overnight physician staffing in the ICU has been recommended by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Leapfrog Consortium. We conducted a survey to review practice in the current era and to compare this with results from a 2006 survey. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Canadian adult ICUs. PARTICIPANTS: ICU directors. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: A 29-question survey was sent to ICU directors describing overnight staffing by residents, fellows, nurse practitioners, and staff physicians, as well as duty duration, clinical responsibilities, and unit characteristics. We established contact with 122 ICU directors, of whom 107 (88%) responded. Of the 107 units, 60 (56%) had overnight in-house physicians. Compared with ICUs without overnight in-house physician coverage, ICUs with in-house physicians were in larger hospitals (p < 0.0001), had more beds (p < 0.0001), had more ventilated patients (p < 0.0001), and had more admissions (p < 0.0001). Overnight in-house physicians were first year residents (R1) in 20 of 60 (33%), second to fifth year residents (R2-R5) in 46 of 60 (77%), and Critical Care Medicine trainees in 19 of 60 (32%). Advanced practice nurses provided overnight coverage in four of 107 ICUs (4%). The most senior in-house physician was a staff physician in 12 of 60 ICUs (20%), a Critical Care Medicine trainee in 14 of 60 (23%), and a resident (R2-R5) in 20 of 60 (33%). The duration of overnight duty was on average 20-24 hours in 22 of 46 units (48%) with R2-R5 residents and 14 of 19 units (74%) covered by Critical Care Medicine trainees. CONCLUSIONS: Variability of in-house overnight physician presence in Canadian adult ICUs is linked to therapeutic complexity and unit characteristics and has not changed significantly over the decade since our 2006 survey. Additional evidence about patient and resident outcomes would better inform decisions to revise physician scheduling in Canadian ICUs.

Pharmacotherapy in Critically Ill Children: A Retrospective Review of 17,199 Admissions.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the ubiquitous role of pharmacotherapy in the care of critically ill children, descriptions of the extent of pharmacotherapy in critical illness are limited. Greater understanding of drug therapy can help identify clinically important associations and assist in the prioritization of efforts to address knowledge gaps. The objectives of this study were to describe the diversity, volume, and patterns of pharmacotherapy in critically ill children. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study was performed with patient admissions to the ICU between July 31, 2006, and July 31, 2015. SETTING: The study took place at a single, free-standing, pediatric, quaternary center. PATIENTS: Eligible patient admissions were admitted to the ICU for more than 6 hours and received one or more drug administration. There were a total 17,482 patient-admissions and after exclusion of 283 admissions (2%) with no documented enteral or parenteral drug administration, 17,199 eligible admissions were studied. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The 17,199 eligible admissions were admitted to the ICU for 2,208,475 hours and received 515 different drugs. The 1,954,171 administrations were 894,709 (45%) enteral administrations, 998,490 (51%) IV injections and 60,972 (3%) infusions. Infusions were administered for 4,476,538 hours. Twelve-thousand two-hundred seventy-three patients (71%) were administered five or more different drugs on 80,943 of patient days (75%). The 10 most commonly administered drugs comprised of 834,441 administrations (43%). CONCLUSIONS: Drug administration in the ICU is complex, involves many medications, and the potential for drug interaction and reaction is compounded by the volume and diversity of therapies routinely provided in ICU. Further evaluation of polytherapy could be used to improve outcomes and enhance the safety of pharmacotherapy in critically ill children.

Moral Distress of Clinicians in Canadian Pediatric and Neonatal ICUs.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify moral distress in neonatal ICU and PICU clinicians and to identify associated factors. DESIGN: A national cross-sectional survey of clinicians working in an neonatal ICU or PICU. Moral distress was assessed with the Moral Distress Scale-Revised and by self-rating. Depersonalization was assessed on the subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Respondents reported their attendance at each of six hospital supports that may serve to mitigate moral distress in frontline staff. Analyses compared outcomes across respondent characteristics and hierarchical linear regression evaluated individual, ICU, hospital, and regional effects. SETTING: Eligible ICUs were PICUs and level-3 neonatal ICUs in Canada. SUBJECTS: Eligible participants had worked in the participating ICU for more than 3 months. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified 54 eligible ICUs from 31 hospitals. Forty-nine Canadian neonatal ICUs and PICUs (91%) contributed 2,852 complete responses for a 45.2% response rate. Most respondents were nurses (64.9%) or from a neonatal ICU (66.5%). The median and interquartile range Moral Distress Scale-Revised were 79 (52-113); 997 respondents (34.2%) had Moral Distress Scale-Revised scores greater than or equal to 100, and 234 respondents (8.3%) strongly agreed that work caused them significant moral distress. Nurses had a median (interquartile range) Moral Distress Scale-Revised score of 85 (57-121), 19 points higher than physicians and 8 points higher than respiratory therapists (p < 0.0001). Moral Distress Scale-Revised scores increased from 53 (35-79) for those working in ICU less than 1 year to 83 (54-120) in those working in ICU more than 30 years (p < 0.0001); 22.5% reported high degrees of depersonalization, which was associated with moral distress (p < 0.0001). Variability in Moral Distress Scale-Revised scores was explained by individual-level (92%), hospital-level (5%), and ICU-level effects (1%). Frequency of participation in potentially mitigating hospital supports had small effects (< 10 points) on mean Moral Distress Scale-Revised scores. CONCLUSIONS: Moral distress is common in clinicians working in ICUs for children. Addressing moral distress will require interventions tailored to individuals in higher-risk groups.

Paediatric health care access in community health centres is associated with survival for critically ill children who undergo inter-facility transport: A province-wide observational study.

BACKGROUND: Diverse settlement makes inter-facility transport of critically ill children a necessary part of regionalized health care. There are few studies of outcomes and health care services use of this growing population. METHODS: A retrospective study evaluated the frequency of transports, health care services use, and outcomes of all critically ill children who underwent inter-facility transport to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Ontario from 2004 to 2012. The primary outcome was PICU mortality. Secondary outcomes were 24-hour and 6-month mortality, PICU and hospital lengths of stay, and use of therapies in the PICU. RESULTS: The 4,074 inter-facility transports were for children aged median (IQR) 1.6 (0.1 to 8.3) years. The rate of transports increased from 15 to 23 per 100,000 children. There were 233 (5.7%) deaths in PICU and an additional 78 deaths (1.9%) by 6 months. Length of stay was median (IQR) 2 (1 to 5) days in PICU and 7 (3 to 14) days in the receiving hospital. Lower PICU mortality was independently associated with prior acute care contact (odds ratio [OR]=0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.2 to 0.6) and availability of paediatric expertise at the referral hospital (OR=0.7, 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.0). CONCLUSIONS: We found that in Ontario, children undergoing inter-facility transport to PICUs are increasing in number, consume significant acute care resources, and have a high PICU mortality. Access to paediatric expertise is a potentially modifiable factor that can impact mortality and warrants further evaluation.

Effect of Electronic Prescribing Strategies on Medication Error and Harm in Hospital: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Computerized physician order entry and clinical decision support systems are electronic prescribing strategies that are increasingly used to improve patient safety. Previous reviews show limited effect on patient outcomes. Our objective was to assess the impact of electronic prescribing strategies on medication errors and patient harm in hospitalized patients. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, and CINAHL were searched from January 2007 to January 2018. We included prospective studies that compared hospital-based electronic prescribing strategies with control, and reported on medication error or patient harm. Data were abstracted by two reviewers and pooled using random effects model. Study quality was assessed using the Effective Practice and Organisation of Care and evidence quality was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. RESULTS: Thirty-eight studies were included; comprised of 11 randomized control trials and 27 non-randomized interventional studies. Electronic prescribing strategies reduced medication errors (RR 0.24 (95% CI 0.13, 0.46), I2 98%, n = 11) and dosing errors (RR 0.17 (95% CI 0.08, 0.38), I2 96%, n = 9), with both risk ratios significantly affected by advancing year of publication. There was a significant effect of electronic prescribing strategies on adverse drug events (ADEs) (RR 0.52 (95% CI 0.40, 0.68), I2 0%, n = 2), but not on preventable ADEs (RR 0.55 (95% CI 0.30, 1.01), I2 78%, n = 3), hypoglycemia (RR 1.03 (95% CI 0.62-1.70), I2 28%, n = 7), length of stay (MD - 0.18 (95% - 1.42, 1.05), I2 94%, n = 7), or mortality (RR 0.97 (95% CI 0.79, 1.19), I2 74%, n = 9). The quality of evidence was rated very low. DISCUSSION: Electronic prescribing strategies decrease medication errors and adverse drug events, but had no effect on other patient outcomes. Conservative interpretations of these findings are supported by significant heterogeneity and the preponderance of low-quality studies.

Epidemiologic Trends of Adoption of Do-Not-Resuscitate Status After Pediatric In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the prevalence of do-not-resuscitate status, assess the epidemiologic trends of do-not-resuscitate status, and assess the factors associated with do-not-resuscitate status in children after in-hospital cardiac arrest using large, multi-institutional data. DESIGN: Generalized estimating equations logistic regression model was used to evaluate the trends of do-not-resuscitate status and evaluate the factors associated with do-not-resuscitate status after cardiac arrest. SETTING: American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines-Resuscitation Registry. PATIENTS: Children (< 18 yr old) with an index in-hospital cardiac arrest and greater than or equal to 1 minute of documented chest compressions were included (2006-2015). Patients with no return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest were excluded. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In total, 8,062 patients qualified for inclusion. Of these, 1,160 patients (14.4%) adopted do-not-resuscitate status after cardiac arrest. We found low rates of survival to hospital discharge among children with do-not-resuscitate status (do-not-resuscitate vs no do-not-resuscitate: 6.0% vs 69.7%). Our study found that rates of do-not-resuscitate status after cardiac arrest are highest in children with Hispanic ethnicity (16.4%), white race (15.0%), and treatment at institutions with larger PICUs (> 50 PICU beds: 17.8%) and at institutions located in North Central (17.6%) and South Atlantic/Puerto Rico (17.1%) regions of the United States. Do-not-resuscitate status was more common among patients with more preexisting conditions, longer duration of cardiac arrest, greater than 1 cardiac arrest, and among patients requiring extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation. We also found that trends of do-not-resuscitate status after cardiac arrest in children are decreasing in recent years (2013-2015: 13.8%), compared with previous years (2006-2009: 16.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Patient-, hospital-, and regional-level factors are associated with do-not-resuscitate status after pediatric cardiac arrest. As cardiac arrest might be a signal of terminal chronic illness, a timely discussion of do-not-resuscitate status after cardiac arrest might help families prioritize quality of end-of-life care.

Discussing Death as a Possible Outcome of PICU Care.

OBJECTIVES: To describe practical considerations related to discussions about death or possible death of a critically ill child. DATA SOURCES: Personal experience and reflection. Published English language literature. STUDY SELECTION: Selected illustrative studies. DATA EXTRACTION: Not available. DATA SYNTHESIS: Narrative and experiential review were used to describe the following areas benefits and potential adverse consequences of conversations about risk of death and the timing of, preparation for, and conduct of conversations about risk of death. CONCLUSIONS: Timely conversations about death as a possible outcome of PICU care are an important part of high-quality ICU care. Not all patients "require" these conversations; however, identifying patients for whom conversations are indicated should be an active process. Informed conversations require preparation to provide the best available objective information. Information should include distillation of local experience, incorporate the patients' clinical trajectory, the potential impact(s) of alternate treatments, describe possible modes of death, and acknowledge the extent of uncertainty. We suggest the more factual understanding of risk of death should be initially separated from the more inherent value-laden treatment recommendations and decisions. Gathering and sharing of collective knowledge, conduct of additional investigations, and time can increase the factual content of risk of death discussions. Timely and sensitive delivery of this best available knowledge then provides foundation for high-quality treatment recommendations and decision-making.

Organ Donation Following Neurologic and Circulatory Determination of Death.

OBJECTIVES: To describe important considerations during the process of caring for critically ill children who may be potential organ donors and supporting the family during the death of their child. DESIGN: Literature review and expert commentary. MEASUREMENT AND MAIN RESULTS: Medical literature focusing on pediatric donation, best pediatric donation practices, donor management, and factors influencing donation were reviewed. Additional pediatric data were obtained and reviewed from the U.S. Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Achieving successful organ donation requires the coordinated efforts of the critical care team, organ donation organization, and transplant team to effectively manage a potential donor and recover suitable organs for transplantation. Collaboration between these teams is essential to ensure that all potential organs are recovered in optimal condition, to reduce death and morbidity in children on transplantation waiting lists as well as fulfilling the family's wishes for their dying child to become a donor. CONCLUSIONS: Organ donation is an important component of end-of-life care and can help the healing process for families and medical staff following the death of a child. The process of pediatric organ donation requires healthcare providers to actively work to preserve the option of donation before the death of the child and ensure donation occurs after consent/authorization has been obtained from the family. Medical management of the pediatric organ donor requires the expertise of a multidisciplinary medical team skilled in the unique needs of caring for children after neurologic determination of death and those who become donors following circulatory death after withdrawal of life-sustaining medical therapies.

Care for Dying Children and Their Families in the PICU: Promoting Clinician Education, Support, and Resilience.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the consequences of workplace stressors on healthcare clinicians in PICU, and strategies for personal well-being, and professional effectiveness in providing high-quality end-of-life care. DATA SOURCES: Literature review, clinical experience, and expert opinion. STUDY SELECTION: A sampling of foundational and current evidence was accessed. DATA SYNTHESIS: Narrative review and experiential reflection. CONCLUSIONS: The well-being of healthcare clinicians in the PICU influences the day-to-day quality and effectiveness of patient care, team functioning, and the retention of skilled individuals in the PICU workforce. End-of-life care, including decision making, can be complicated. Both are major stressors for PICU staff that can lead to adverse personal and professional consequences. Overresponsiveness to routine stressors may be seen in those with moral distress, and underresponsiveness may be seen in those with compassion fatigue or burnout. Ideally, all healthcare professionals in PICU can rise to the day-to-day workplace challenges-responding in an adaptive, effective manner. Strategies to proactively increase resilience and well-being include self-awareness, self-care, situational awareness, and education to increase confidence and skills for providing end-of-life care. Reactive strategies include case conferences, prebriefings in ongoing preidentified situations, debriefings, and other postevent meetings. Nurturing a culture of practice that acknowledges the emotional impacts of pediatric critical care work and celebrates the shared experiences of families and clinicians to build resilient, effective, and professionally fulfilled healthcare professionals thus enabling the provision of high-quality end-of-life care for children and their families.

Correlation of Bedside Pediatric Early Warning System Score to Interventions During Peritransport Period.

BACKGROUND: The Bedside Pediatric Early Warning System score is a validated measure of severity of illness in acute care inpatient settings. Its potential as a remote assessment tool for interfacility transport has not been evaluated. We hypothesized that the Bedside Pediatric Early Warning System score was associated with need for intervention during the peritransport period and patient disposition. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated children transported by a regional pediatric team during a 6-month period. Bedside Pediatric Early Warning System scores were calculated at the triage phone call, the transport team arrival, and at transfer of care to the hospital team. The primary outcome was the receipt of significant intervention during the peritransport period, with additional outcomes of destination (ICU, ward, emergency department) in the regional hospital. Scores are presented as median values (interquartile range). RESULTS: There were 564 children who underwent transport; 139 (25%) received interventions; and 205 (36%) were transferred to the PICU, 231 (41%) to the ward, and 127 (23%) to the emergency department. Scores were 2 (1-5; median interquartile range) in children receiving no in-transport interventions, 8 (5-11) in children receiving any intervention (p < 0.001), and 10 (7-14) in children receiving more than one intervention. Children transferred to the PICU had higher scores 6 (3-10), than children transferred to a ward 3 (1-6) or the emergency department 2 (1-3) (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The Bedside Pediatric Early Warning System score at the time of initial referral is a useful measure of severity of illness reflected by the subsequent provision of significant peritransport intervention and the transfer destination.

When a Child Dies in the PICU Despite Ongoing Life Support.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the circumstance of death in the PICU in the setting of ongoing curative or life-prolonging goals. DATA SOURCES: Multidisciplinary author group, international expert opinion, and use of current literature. DATA SYNTHESIS: We describe three common clinical scenarios when curative or life-prolonging goals of care are pursued despite a high likelihood of death. We explore the challenges to providing high-quality end-of-life care in this setting. We describe possible perspectives of families and ICU clinicians facing these circumstances to aid in our understanding of these complex deaths. Finally, we offer suggestions of how PICU clinicians might improve the care of children at the end of life in this setting. CONCLUSIONS: Merging curative interventions and optimal end-of-life care is possible, important, and can be enabled when clinicians use creativity, explore possibilities, remain open minded, and maintain flexibility in the provision of critical care medicine. When faced with real and perceived barriers in providing optimal end-of-life care, particularly when curative goals of care are prioritized despite a very poor prognosis, tensions and conflict may arise. Through an intentional exploration of self and others' perspectives, values, and goals, and working toward finding commonality in order to align with each other, conflict in end-of-life care may lessen, allowing the central focus to remain on providing optimal support for the dying child and their family.

Effect of a Pediatric Early Warning System on All-Cause Mortality in Hospitalized Pediatric Patients: The EPOCH Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: There is limited evidence that the use of severity of illness scores in pediatric patients can facilitate timely admission to the intensive care unit or improve patient outcomes. Objective: To determine the effect of the Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System (BedsidePEWS) on all-cause hospital mortality and late admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), cardiac arrest, and ICU resource use. Design, Setting, and Participants: A multicenter cluster randomized trial of 21 hospitals located in 7 countries (Belgium, Canada, England, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, and the Netherlands) that provided inpatient pediatric care for infants (gestational age ≥37 weeks) to teenagers (aged ≤18 years). Participating hospitals had continuous physician staffing and subspecialized pediatric services. Patient enrollment began on February 28, 2011, and ended on June 21, 2015. Follow-up ended on July 19, 2015. Interventions: The BedsidePEWS intervention (10 hospitals) was compared with usual care (no severity of illness score; 11 hospitals). Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was all-cause hospital mortality. The secondary outcome was a significant clinical deterioration event, which was defined as a composite outcome reflecting late ICU admission. Regression analyses accounted for hospital-level clustering and baseline rates. Results: Among 144 539 patient discharges at 21 randomized hospitals, there were 559 443 patient-days and 144 539 patients (100%) completed the trial. All-cause hospital mortality was 1.93 per 1000 patient discharges at hospitals with BedsidePEWS and 1.56 per 1000 patient discharges at hospitals with usual care (adjusted between-group rate difference, 0.01 [95% CI, -0.80 to 0.81 per 1000 patient discharges]; adjusted odds ratio, 1.01 [95% CI, 0.61 to 1.69]; P = .96). Significant clinical deterioration events occurred during 0.50 per 1000 patient-days at hospitals with BedsidePEWS vs 0.84 per 1000 patient-days at hospitals with usual care (adjusted between-group rate difference, -0.34 [95% CI, -0.73 to 0.05 per 1000 patient-days]; adjusted rate ratio, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.61 to 0.97]; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance: Implementation of the Bedside Paediatric Early Warning System compared with usual care did not significantly decrease all-cause mortality among hospitalized pediatric patients. These findings do not support the use of this system to reduce mortality. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01260831.

Moral Distress in PICU and Neonatal ICU Practitioners: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: To measure the level of moral distress in PICU and neonatal ICU health practitioners, and to describe the relationship of moral distress with demographic factors, burnout, and uncertainty. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: A large pediatric tertiary care center. SUBJECTS: Neonatal ICU and PICU health practitioners with at least 3 months of ICU experience. INTERVENTIONS: A 41-item questionnaire examining moral distress, burnout, and uncertainty. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The main outcome was moral distress measured with the Revised Moral Distress Scale. Secondary outcomes were frequency and intensity Revised Moral Distress Scale subscores, burnout measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory depersonalization subscale, and uncertainty measured with questions adapted from Mishel's Parent Perception of Uncertainty Scale. Linear regression models were used to examine associations between participant characteristics and the measures of moral distress, burnout, and uncertainty. Two-hundred six analyzable surveys were returned. The median Revised Moral Distress Scale score was 96.5 (interquartile range, 69-133), and 58% of respondents reported significant work-related moral distress. Revised Moral Distress Scale items involving end-of-life care and communication scored highest. Moral distress was positively associated with burnout (r = 0.27; p < 0.001) and uncertainty (r = 0.04; p = 0.008) and inversely associated with perceived hospital supportiveness (r = 0.18; p < 0.001). Nurses reported higher moral distress intensity than physicians (Revised Moral Distress Scale intensity subscores: 57.3 vs 44.7; p = 0.002). In nurses only, moral distress was positively associated with increasing years of ICU experience (p = 0.02) and uncertainty about whether their care was of benefit (r = 0.11; p < 0.001) and inversely associated with uncertainty about a child's prognosis (r = 0.03; p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In this single-center, cross-sectional study, we found that moral distress is present in PICU and neonatal ICU health practitioners and is correlated with burnout, uncertainty, and feeling unsupported.