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Implementing a nurse-led paediatric palliative care service
Kim Sadler1, Lori Nancarrow2, Hamad Husain Alyami3
1Advanced Clinical Specialist Nurse, Palliative Care, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh.
Insights
A nurse-led pediatric palliative care program successfully served 107 children with life-limiting illnesses in Saudi Arabia. The program addressed family coping and pain management, demonstrating a viable model for pediatric palliative care delivery.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Medicine
- Palliative Care
- Healthcare Management
Background:
- Children with life-limiting illnesses are living longer, presenting complex care needs.
- Paediatric palliative care is underdeveloped globally.
- Specialized knowledge and skills are crucial for effective paediatric palliative care.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline the implementation of a novel nurse-led paediatric palliative care program.
- To describe the process within a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia.
- To analyze data from the first year of the program's operation.
Main Methods:
- A 1-year analysis of collected data was performed.
- The study describes the implementation steps of the nurse-led program.
- Data collection focused on patient demographics, diagnoses, interventions, and encountered issues.
Main Results:
- 107 children received services; cancer was the most common diagnosis (66.3%).
- Key issues included family coping difficulties (74.7%) and uncontrolled pain (67.3%).
- Primary interventions involved family support (66.3%), education (64.5%), and pain management (56%).
Conclusions:
- Paediatric palliative care can be effectively implemented, even with limited resources.
- A nurse-led service model is a feasible approach for delivering palliative care to children with serious illnesses.
- The program demonstrated success in addressing critical needs of children and their families.
Background:
Children with life-limiting illnesses are living longer. They have complex care needs and require specialised knowledge and skills, yet paediatric palliative care is still at its infancy in most settings worldwide.
Aims:
To describe the process of implementing a nurse-led paediatric palliative care programme in a large tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia.
Methods:
The steps that led to the implementation of this new nurse-led programme will be described through a 1-year analysis of collected data.
Findings:
A total of 107 children received services from the paediatric palliative care programme for over one year, with cancer being the predominant diagnosis (n=71, 66.3%). More than half of the children had a do not attempt resuscitation (DNAR) order (n=54, 50.5%). The most frequently encountered issues were the family's difficulty in coping with the disease (n=80, 74.7%) and a child's uncontrolled pain (n=72, 67.3%). The most frequent interventions were family support and counselling (n=71, 66.3%), family education about symptom management (n=69, 64,5%) and adjusted analgesics (n=60, 56%). Children in the terminal stage of their disease had significantly more issues.
Conclusion:
Effective paediatric palliative care can be successfully implemented in a healthcare setting even when resources are limited. A nurse-led service was found to be a viable option for the delivery of palliative care to children with serious illnesses.
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