NICU; Nurses; Nursing care; Perinatal palliative care

Perinatal palliative care is provided to newborns in cases when it has been decided to discontinue life-saving treatment or life-prolonging treatment. The aim is to focus on honoring the best values of a patient and to maximize the quality of his or her life. These newborns live under life-limiting or life-threatening conditions. This study focuses on the attitudes of nurses to providing perinatal palliative care. It aims to identify factors that affect the level of care provided by nurses on a neonatological intensive care unit (NICU) in the Czech Republic, whilst also analysing barriers and facilitators. A quantitative study was performed with the use of the standardized questionnaire NIPCAS (Neonatal Palliative Care Attitude Scale) adapted to Czech language. The research showed that the majority of participants perceive the practice of palliative care for dying child positively. A barrier was identified in the form of the environment where the palliative care is provided. The implementation of palliative care should include awareness and reassurance of parents that the medical team will continue to provide the best care to their child. Parents should be actively involved in making decisions with respect to their emotional state and cultural and religious beliefs. That is why specialized educational courses should exist to provide information about neonatological palliative care. © 2021, University of South Bohemia. All rights reserved.