• Claudia Delgado-Corcoran, Sarah E Wawrzynski, Kelly J Mansfield, Brian Flaherty, Danielle D DeCourcey, Dominic Moore, Lawrence J Cook, Christina K Ullrich, and Lenora M Olson.
• Division of Critical Care, Department of Pediatrics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
• J Palliat Med. 2022 Jun 1; 25 (6): 952957952-957.

AbstractBackground: Pediatric palliative care (PPC) consultation is infrequent among children on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Objective: Investigate intensive care unit (ICU) team members' perceptions of automatic PPC consultation for children on ECMO in an ICU in the United States. Methods: Cross-sectional survey assessing benefits, barriers to PPC, and consultation processes. Results: Of 291 eligible respondents, 48% (n = 140) completed the survey and 16% (n = 47) answered an open-ended question. Benefits included support in decision-making (n = 98; 70%) and identification of goals of care (n = 89; 64%). Barriers included perception of giving up on families (n = 59; 42%) and poor acceptability by other team members (n = 58; 41%). Respondents endorsed communication with the primary ICU team before (n = 122; 87%) and after (n = 129; 92%) consultation. Open-ended responses showed more positive (79% vs. 13%) than negative statements. Positive statements reflected on expanding PPC to other critically-ill children where negative statements revealed unrecognized value in PPC. Conclusions: Results demonstrate opportunities for education about the scope of PPC and improvements in PPC delivery.

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