Joyner Benny L
An associate professor of pediatrics, anesthesiology, and social medicine and a pediatric intensivist at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and currently serves as the chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and vice chair for hospital inpatient services and is also one of the lead ethics consultants on the UNC Medical Center Hospital Ethics Committee.
AMA J Ethics. 2018 May 1;20(5):507-512. doi: 10.1001/journalofethics.2018.20.5.sect1-1805.
Family presence during a pediatric resuscitation remains somewhat controversial. Opponents express concern that family presence would be detrimental to team performance and that exposure to such a traumatic event could put family members at risk of posttraumatic stress. Proponents argue that family presence affords families a sense of closure by easing their anxieties and assuring them that everything was done for their loved ones in addition to improving clinicians' professional behavior by humanizing the patient. This article will review the literature on the potential benefits and pitfalls of family presence during a pediatric resuscitation.
