Interprofessional Teamwork During Family Meetings in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

Area of Science:

• Pediatric critical care medicine
• Interprofessional communication
• Healthcare quality improvement

Background:

• Parents in pediatric cardiac intensive care units (CICU) often report poor communication and lack of empathy from clinicians.
• Effective communication is crucial for shared decision-making and family-centered care in high-stress environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively and qualitatively assess the contributions of different healthcare professionals during family meetings in a pediatric CICU.
• To analyze communication dynamics, including speaking time, contribution types, and empathic responses, between the clinical team and parents.

Main Methods:

• A prospective observational study was conducted in a pediatric CICU.
• Interprofessional team members and parents in family meetings for long-stay CICU patients were observed.
• Quantitative conversation attribution and coding (SCOPE codebook) were used to measure contribution durations and types; qualitative analysis explored nurses' and social workers' roles.

Main Results:

• Physicians dominated family meetings, speaking for an average of 78.1% of the time, while non-physicians contributed 9.6% and parents 17.4%.
• Parental understanding was assessed infrequently (0.2 times/meeting), and empathic responses from the clinical team were limited (2.2 times/meeting).
• Communication primarily occurred between physicians and parents until physicians explicitly invited other team members to participate.

Conclusions:

• The current communication structure in pediatric CICU family meetings may hinder parental engagement and limit opportunities for empathic communication.
• Improved coordination of interprofessional team roles during family meetings could enhance parental involvement in decision-making and increase empathic exchanges.