Leading The Witness: Pediatric Palliative Program Improvement Through Instructional Investigation

Abstract

Background: Palliative Care consultation can often be limited primarily to the practice areas of those staffing the program. In Pediatrics, this is further complicated by the difficulties of prognostication in chronically-ill children and confusion surrounding the purpose of Palliative Care in a non-terminal but seriously ill child. Quality Improvement initiatives that are limited to directive interventions, such as consult triggers or structured educational offerings, can often be viewed as invasive or presumptuous by colleagues that see palliative practice as part of their own specialty. In these circumstances, we have found …