ABSTRACT
Purpose: To assess the feelings and knowledge of health care professionals (HCPs) about gasping in dying patients in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Methods: A 9-item questionnaire addressed to 488 HCPs (physicians, nurses, and nursing assistants) of 2 NICUs and 2 PICUs. Questions were about HCPs' feelings when confronted with gasping, their knowledge, and their opinions on what to tell family members. Results: Responses were obtained from 248 staff members. Of the respondents, 43% felt that gasping was painful to the patient and most felt that witnessing gasps was distressing for the parents, and 77% reported being distressed by witnessing gasps. Conclusions: Efforts are needed to educate HCPs about the physiology of gasping, to help them to cope with gasping, and to give better support to parents.
Subject(s)
Health Personnel , Physicians , Infant, Newborn , Humans , Child , Family , Parents , Intensive Care Units, Neonatal , DyspneaABSTRACT
Until now, the early approach of palliative care patients for corneal harvesting has been unheard of in France. At the Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Lucie-et-Raymond-Aubrac, in the Val-de-Marne region of France, we offer a rigorous and respectful procedure and organization for patients who have been carefully selected for an early approach to donation.
Subject(s)
Palliative Care , Humans , FranceABSTRACT
The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in France severely tested the healthcare system and its teams from the first weeks of 2020. With two years of hindsight, healthcare professionals have learned a great deal from this health crisis which, despite vaccination, maintains pressure on social activities and on the daily lives of caregivers. Looking back to the early days of this crisis, a nurse and her former trainer report on the spontaneous collaborations deployed to reinforce the resuscitation teams. Their complicity and the reversal of roles are recounted by four hands in the form of crossed views.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Caregivers , Health Personnel , Humans , Pandemics , SARS-CoV-2ABSTRACT
AIM: The primary objective was to assess the effect of prematurity at term-equivalent age on skin conductance and behavioural responses to acute stress. The secondary objective was to explore the reliability of skin conductance in detecting neonatal discomfort in preterm and full-term populations. METHODS: Very preterm infants at term-equivalent age and healthy full-term neonates, 34 infants in each group, underwent the hip dysplasia screening test. The acute pain in newborn infants (APN) scale was scored before and 15, 45 and 90 seconds after stimulus. Skin conductance was measured in the 30-second time-lap before and after stimulus. RESULTS: The APN score was lower in preterm infants after intervention (term: 5.4 ± 2.8 vs. preterm: 3.9 ± 2.2; p = 0.03). Peaks-per-second, a skin conductance parameter, exhibited lower basal values in preterm infants than in term infants, with similar rise induced by stressful challenge. Peaks-per-second values were correlated to the 15-second APN score in both groups (term: r = 0.55, p < 0.001; preterm: r = 0.43, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Preterm birth changed skin conductance signal and behavioural response to stress at term-equivalent age. The skin conductance device may be an objective tool for a continuous monitoring of acute neonatal stress.
