Quality care for the dying child and family

Fortunately, childhood death is rare. However, when it does happen the death of a child represents a life-altering event for parents and the whole family. During the end of life period, the nurse has a key role within the multidisciplinary team providing care and in ensuring the ideal of the good death is upheld. It is important to remember that nurse and family may have different ideas of what is a good death. The composition of the team will differ depending on where the child’s end-of-life care is being provided, but the team will likely include professionals from both statutory and voluntary organizations. Care should be holistic and individualized, recognizing that the needs of each child and family at this time are different. In what follows we examine each of the main aspects of quality care in turn (i.e. physical, psychological, social and spiritual elements), recognizing that these are interconnected.

Physical needs