There are so many ways to contribute to quality care in the NICU. This NANT 15 afternoon pre-conference session will teach you more about a deeply important one you may not have considered (yet).
Pre-Conference Session 2: How to Thrive Together in Palliative Care: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Presenters: Allysson Gore, SLPD, CCC-SLP, CLC, NTMTC, CNT, C-ELBW and Katie Dillard, CCLS, PMH-C
DescriptionÂ
Providing perinatal palliative care services requires team members with special training that is particular to this population, as it is quite different from adult-provided services. Creating a comprehensive program that supports natural infant death, resuscitation, and bereavement care for families in the NICU and Labor & Delivery departments is crucial to providing best care practices. Team members may include neonatologists, nurses, child life specialists, lactation counselors, chaplains, social workers, neonatal therapists, hospice members, and more.
The neonatal therapist’s role in perinatal palliative care is currently not well defined. There is extensive research and clear practice roles for providing developmental care to sick and preterm newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but this type of care cannot always be translated to the palliative care populations. Additionally, understanding the particular perspective of parents experiencing infant death or severe disability requires special consideration.
Working together with a comprehensive palliative care team, neonatal therapists can provide evidence-based, trauma-informed, developmentally supportive, and individualized care to this population with confidence. Collaborating with different team members and obtaining special training in bereavement in this population can lay solid foundations for providing appropriate care.
When neonatal therapists become familiar with death and the dying process of humans, both young and old, therapists can make informed choices about how to help families move forward in important decision-making processes. The four principles of ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice) can help guide our recommendations and practices when the “right” answer may be unclear.
Register for this pre-conference session by choosing package 3 or 4.
