A search for evidence included the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ACP Journal Club, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Psych Info data bases. In addition, the Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP) database also was searched for federally funded studies between 1988 and 2003. References from the studies found in these databases also were searched. These methods revealed a total of 5 experimental studies designed to test the effects of interventions targeted to parents of critically ill children.
Although there are studies that have demonstrated the effectiveness of interventions in improving short- and long-term outcomes in critically ill children and parents, these interventions are not being routinely implemented in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) throughout the country. As such, there is an urgent need for widespread dissemination of these interventions and to create an evidence-based clinical practice guideline that incorporates them as the routine standard of care. The adoption of a clinical practice guideline that incorporates parent-focused, evidence-based interventions by PICUs throughout the country would promote positive outcomes in this high-risk population of children and parents.
Back to Special Session: Improving the Psychosocial Care and Mental Health/Coping Outcomes of Critically Ill Children and Parents: Evidence to Guide Practice
Back to Evidence-Based Nursing: Strategies for Improving Practice
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 21, 2004