• Elizabeth G Broden, Janet Deatrick, Connie Ulrich, and CurleyMartha A QMAQMartha A.Q. Curley is the Ruth M. Colket Endowed Chair in Pediatric Nursing, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and a professor, Department of Family and Community Health, School of Nursing and Department of Anesthesia and Critical Ca.
• Elizabeth G. Broden is a doctoral student, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and a registered nurse, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Am. J. Crit. Care. 2020 Mar 1; 29 (2): 111121111-121.

BackgroundSocietal attitudes about end-of-life events are at odds with how, where, and when children die. In addition, parents' ideas about what constitutes a "good death" in a pediatric intensive care unit vary widely.ObjectiveTo synthesize parents' perspectives on end-of-life care in the pediatric intensive care unit in order to define the characteristics of a good death in this setting from the perspectives of parents.MethodsA concept analysis was conducted of parents' views of a good death in the pediatric intensive care unit. Empirical studies of parents who had experienced their child's death in the inpatient setting were identified through database searches.ResultsThe concept analysis allowed the definition of antecedents, attributes, and consequences of a good death. Empirical referents and exemplar cases of care of a dying child in the pediatric intensive care unit serve to further operationalize the concept.ConclusionsConceptual knowledge of what constitutes a good death from a parent's perspective may allow pediatric nurses to care for dying children in a way that promotes parents' coping with bereavement and continued bonds and memories of the deceased child. The proposed conceptual model synthesizes characteristics of a good death into actionable attributes to guide bedside nursing care of the dying child.©2020 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

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