Providing support to children during the loss of an important adult in the ICU

Managing critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting is challenging for critical care clinicians, who often have to balance the demands of treating acutely ill patients, while also providing support to family members. Family-centered care practice and bereavement needs of the family are closely related as a supportive, inclusive, and communicative approach in the ICU can significantly influence the grieving process, and the impact on family symptoms [1]. In ICU settings that typically care for adult patients, caring for a bereaved child in the ICU can be especially stressful. While family-centered care practice in the ICU is globally well supported [2], addressing the unique bereavement needs of children can lead to uncertainty among ICU clinicians as to how to best provide support. Although guidelines exist to support clinicians to improve quality of dying and death, minimize the adverse effects of the experience on families, and serve as a resource for hospital administrators and healthcare policymakers [3], uncertainty exists as to how to best provide child-centered bereavement support in an adult ICU. This shows the necessity of prioritizing research on the bereaved children, caregivers, and health care providers in the ICU, to build up evidence and develop targeted interventions [4].