Avoiding and Managing Conflict in the PICU

ICNC2024
Paediatric Neuropalliative Medicine - Providing Holistic Care To Families

Avoiding and Managing Conflict in the PICU
Peter Sedgwick

Working with families to avoid conflict in the PICU is an important aspect of providing care to patients with life limiting illnesses. This is a case based presentation of approaches to building relationships with the parents and carers of children admitted to PICU with neurological disease or injury.

Conflict can arise from a variety of sources, including differences in opinions, values, and goals among healthcare providers, patients, and their families. Such conflicts can lead to negative outcomes, such as stress, decreased job satisfaction, and compromised patient care.
In addition, establishing clear guidelines and protocols for decision-making can help prevent conflicts from escalating. Healthcare providers should engage in shared decision-making with patients and their families, considering their input and preferences in the care plan. This can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

The changing patient population and shifts in the socio-political landscape mean that those caring for children in the PICU are increasingly having to refresh their approach to planning for patients with life limiting neurological disease, and communicating with their parents and carers.
This session will propose a practical tool-kit for clinicians to minimise the potential for conflict and to consider responses to it when it is unavoidable.

Other Lectures in this symposium
Permissibility vs Advisability : Clinical Decision making with Families – A Practical Framework
Clinicial Vignettes in Paediatric NeuroPalliative care