TY - JOUR
T1 - Developing a pediatric palliative care service in a large urban hospital
T2 - Challenges, lessons, and successes
AU - Edlynn, Emily S.
AU - Derrington, Sabrina
AU - Morgan, Helene
AU - Murray, Jennifer
AU - Ornelas, Beatriz
AU - Cucchiaro, Giovanni
PY - 2013/4/1
Y1 - 2013/4/1
N2 - Background and Aim: We report the process of creating a new palliative care service at a large, urban children's hospital. Our aim was to provide a detailed guide to developing an inpatient consultation service, along with reporting on the challenges, lessons, and evaluation. Methods: We examined the hiring process of personnel and marketing strategies, a clinical database facilitated ongoing quality review and identified trends, and a survey project assessed provider satisfaction and how referring physicians used the palliative care service. Results and Conclusion: The pilot phase of service delivery laid the groundwork for a more effective service by creating documentation templates and identifying relevant data to track growth and outcomes. It also allowed time to establish a clear delineation of team members and distinction of roles. The survey of referring physicians proved a useful evaluation starting point, but conclusions could not be generalized because of the low response rate. It may be necessary to reconsider the survey technique and to expand the sample to include patients and families. Future research is needed to measure the financial benefits of a well-staffed inpatient pediatric palliative care service.
AB - Background and Aim: We report the process of creating a new palliative care service at a large, urban children's hospital. Our aim was to provide a detailed guide to developing an inpatient consultation service, along with reporting on the challenges, lessons, and evaluation. Methods: We examined the hiring process of personnel and marketing strategies, a clinical database facilitated ongoing quality review and identified trends, and a survey project assessed provider satisfaction and how referring physicians used the palliative care service. Results and Conclusion: The pilot phase of service delivery laid the groundwork for a more effective service by creating documentation templates and identifying relevant data to track growth and outcomes. It also allowed time to establish a clear delineation of team members and distinction of roles. The survey of referring physicians proved a useful evaluation starting point, but conclusions could not be generalized because of the low response rate. It may be necessary to reconsider the survey technique and to expand the sample to include patients and families. Future research is needed to measure the financial benefits of a well-staffed inpatient pediatric palliative care service.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84875867532&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84875867532&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/jpm.2012.0187
DO - 10.1089/jpm.2012.0187
M3 - Article
C2 - 23249403
AN - SCOPUS:84875867532
VL - 16
SP - 342
EP - 348
JO - Journal of Palliative Medicine
JF - Journal of Palliative Medicine
SN - 1096-6218
IS - 4
ER -