Witnessing invasive paediatric procedures, including resuscitation, in the emergency department: A parental perspective

Abstract

Most parents surveyed would want to be present when invasive procedures are performed on their children in the ED. With increasing invasiveness, parental desire to be present decreased. However, the overwhelming majority of parents would want to be in attendance during procedural sedation or resuscitation.

What is the nature of the emergence phenomenon when using intravenous or intramuscular ketamine for paediatric procedural sedation?

“…In this data series, no ‘quiet, dark room’ was used for the recovery period; children were recovered in the procedure room, a treatment cubicle or in the corridor of the ED if departmental activity was excessive. Parents were almost always seated alongside the child for the procedure and the recovery period, in keeping with the philosophy of the ED, and literature supporting that philosophy 31,32 . Given these factors, the rate of emergence delirium reported was 2.1%, which compares favourably with other studies 2–5,18,19 .…”

‘Don't put the parent out’: parents' perspectives of being present during an inter‐hospital transfer

“…Parental desire to stay is reflected in previous findings from research in the ED and PICU settings that suggest that being present when a child is acutely ill gives parents access to information, allows them see that everything has been done for their child and reduces parental anxiety (Isoardi et al . , Mangurten et al . , McGahey‐Oakland et al .…”

Observational Study of Family Member Presence for Pediatric Emergency Department Procedures

“…This conference resulted in a position article published in 2005 stating that clinicians should consider family member presence as an option, offer family member presence to caregivers after assessing factors that could potentially result in an adverse interaction, and, if family member presence is not offered, document the reasons why not. 1,2,12,13 There have been few observational studies, however, documenting what caregivers actually do in real clinical situations, rather than hypothetical scenarios. 10 The American Academy of Pediatrics went on to release a technical report in 2008 on patient-centered and family-centered care of children in the emergency department, which advocated giving family members the choice to remain present for all aspects of emergency department care.…”