Subject(s)
Adrenal Glands/pathology , Herpes Simplex/diagnosis , Liver/pathology , Lung/pathology , Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn/etiology , Diagnosis, Differential , Echocardiography , Fatal Outcome , Herpes Simplex/complications , Herpes Simplex/pathology , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Premature , Lung/diagnostic imaging , Male , Methadone/adverse effects , Multiple Organ Failure/etiology , Myocardium/pathology , Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Radiography , Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn/diagnosis , Sepsis/diagnosis , Sepsis/virologyABSTRACT
Through a questionnaire, the authors sought to elicit information about initial attitudes concerning circumcision after reading a summary of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Policy Statement and, again, after reading a description of recent HIV/HPV studies. Predictors of increased support for circumcision included having a prior circumcised boy and being US born. Predictors of decreased support included being of Hispanic ethnicity and believing that the uncircumcised penis was more culturally normal. After reading the AAP statement, 86% of respondents remained favorable of elective circumcision, whereas 13% viewed it less favorably. After reading the passage about the HIV/HPV studies, the majority maintained their initial level of support. Certain characteristics were associated with an individual's desire to perform circumcision on his/her infant. Despite a slight decrease in support to perform circumcision after reading the AAP policy summary, respondents' initial attitudes toward circumcision were unchanged after subsequent review of recent HIV/HPV research.
Subject(s)
Circumcision, Male , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Parents/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Circumcision, Male/adverse effects , Circumcision, Male/ethnology , Cohort Studies , Family Characteristics , Female , HIV Infections/prevention & control , HIV Infections/transmission , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Male , Papillomavirus Infections/prevention & control , Papillomavirus Infections/transmission , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Risk Assessment , United StatesABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Religion and spirituality are increasingly recognized as important in the care of seriously ill patients. This study evaluates religious and spiritual beliefs and practices among pediatric oncology faculty and compares their religiosity and spirituality to the general public. METHODS: Information was gathered from a sampling frame of all pediatric oncology faculty working in 13 US News and World Report's "honor role" hospitals. These data were compared with the general public (using the General Social Survey), through frequency distributions, descriptive crosstabs, and tests of significance, including chi(2) statistics. RESULTS: Eighty-five percent of pediatric oncology faculty described themselves as spiritual. In all, 24.3% reported attending religious services 2 to 3 times a month or more in the past year. Twenty-seven percent of pediatric oncologists believed in God with no doubts. In all, 52.7% believed their spiritual or religious beliefs influence interactions with patients and colleagues. Among the general public 40.1% reported attending religious services 2 to 3 times a month or more in the past year (P<0.01) and 60.4% believed in God with no doubts (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although many have no traditional religious identity, large fractions of pediatric oncology faculty described themselves as spiritual. This may have implications for the education of pediatric oncologists and the spiritual care of seriously ill children and their families.
Subject(s)
Medical Oncology , Pediatrics , Physicians/psychology , Religion and Medicine , Spirituality , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , United StatesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Critical illness is a crisis for the total person, not just for the physical body. Patients and their loved ones often reflect on spiritual, religious, and existential questions when seriously ill. Surveys have demonstrated that most patients wish physicians would concern themselves with their patients' spiritual and religious needs, thus indicating that this part of their care has been neglected or avoided. With the well-documented desire of patients to have their caregivers include the patient's spiritual values in their health care, and the well-documented reality that caregivers are often hesitant to do so because of lack of training and comfort in this realm, clinical pastoral education for health care providers fills a significant gap in continuing education for caregivers. OBJECTIVES: To report on the first 6 yrs of a unique training program in clinical pastoral education adapted for clinicians and its effect on the experience of the health care worker in the intensive care unit. We describe the didactic and reflective process whereby skills of relating to the ultimate concerns of patients and families are acquired and refined. DESIGN AND SETTING: Clinical pastoral education designed for clergy was adapted for the health care worker committed to developing skills in the diagnosis and management of spiritual distress. Clinician participants (approximately 10-12) meet weekly for 5 months (400 hrs of supervised clinical pastoral care training). The program is designed to incorporate essential elements of pastoral care training, namely experience, reflection, insight, action, and integration. RESULTS: This accredited program has been in continuous operation training clinicians for the past 6 yrs. Fifty-three clinicians have since graduated from the program. Graduates have incorporated clinical pastoral education training into clinical medical practice, research, and/or further training in clinical pastoral education. Outcomes reported by graduates include the following: Clinical practice became infused with new awareness, sensitivity, and language; graduates learned to relate more meaningfully to patients/families of patients and discover a richer relationship with them; spiritual distress was (newly) recognizable in patients, caregivers, and self. CONCLUSIONS: This unique clinical pastoral education program provides the clinician with knowledge, language, and understanding to explore and support spiritual and religious issues confronting critically ill patients and their families. We propose that incorporating spiritual care of the patient and family into clinical practice is an important step in addressing the goal of caring for the whole person.
Subject(s)
Critical Care , Education, Medical, Continuing , Existentialism , Pastoral Care/education , Religion and Medicine , Spirituality , Adaptation, Psychological , Awareness , Curriculum , Humans , Physician-Patient Relations , Professional-Family Relations , Sick RoleABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that near-term infants have more medical problems after birth than full-term infants and that hospital stays might be prolonged and costs increased. METHODS: Electronic medical record database sorting was conducted of 7474 neonatal records and subset analyses of near-term (n = 120) and full-term (n = 125) neonatal records. Cost information was accessed. Length of hospital stay, Apgar scores, clinical diagnoses (temperature instability, jaundice, hypoglycemia, suspicion of sepsis, apnea and bradycardia, respiratory distress), treatment with an intravenous infusion, delay in discharge to home, and hospital costs were assessed. RESULTS: Data from 90 near-term and 95 full-term infants were analyzed. Median length of stay was similar for near-term and full-term infants, but wide variations in hospital stay were documented for near-term infants after both vaginal and cesarean deliveries. Near-term and full-term infants had comparable 1- and 5-minute Apgar scores. Nearly all clinical outcomes analyzed differed significantly between near-term and full-term neonates: temperature instability, hypoglycemia, respiratory distress, and jaundice. Near-term infants were evaluated for possible sepsis more frequently than full-term infants (36.7% vs 12.6%; odds ratio: 3.97) and more often received intravenous infusions. Cost analysis revealed a relative increase in total costs for near-term infants of 2.93 (mean) and 1.39 (median), resulting in a cost difference of 2630 dollars (mean) and 429 dollars (median) per near-term infant. CONCLUSIONS: Near-term infants had significantly more medical problems and increased hospital costs compared with contemporaneous full-term infants. Near-term infants may represent an unrecognized at-risk neonatal population.
Subject(s)
Infant, Newborn, Diseases/epidemiology , Infant, Premature , Length of Stay , Birth Weight , Female , Gestational Age , Health Care Costs , Humans , Hypoglycemia/epidemiology , Infant, Newborn , Jaundice, Neonatal/epidemiology , Lung Diseases/epidemiology , MaleABSTRACT
Program development, implementation, and a 14-year exit analysis of a bereavement support program for couples whose baby died in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is presented. A closed, hospital-based, time-limited (12 weeks) format was used. Team leadership was used and 54% of bereaved NICU parents participated. Each group was structured with a 2-week introductory period, open format grief-focused weekly discussions,evaluation in Week 11, and summary session with termination in Week 12. The exit analysis details program strengths, weaknesses, and recommendations. Bereavement support groups are one part of what we contend should be a comprehensive bereavement program,organized to care for families prior to, during, and after a baby's death. A sensitive, spiritually aware, supportive environment should be maintained throughout with relationship building as a cornerstone of the program.