In this World Shared Practice Forum Podcast, Drs. Danielle DeCourcey and Sabrina Derrington provide their insight on the methodology and development of the 2026 Guidelines on the Care and Management of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Patients at the End-of-Life, sharing actionable guidance for clinicians at the bedside. The authors review GRADE methodology and provide context behind the conditional recommendations. The speakers reflect on next steps including implementation, research, and addressing disparities in end-of-life care.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Understand the design and methodology for the 2026 pediatric and neonatal end-of-life guidelines
- Describe GRADE methodology and its impact on the guideline’s recommendations
- Discuss practical applications of the guidelines for clinicians
AUTHORS
Danielle D'Emilia DeCourcey, MD, MPH
Associate Chief, Division of Medical Critical Care
Boston Children's Hospital
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Harvard Medical School
Sabrina Derrington, MD, MA, HEC-C, FAAP
Director of the Center for Bioethics
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Keck School of Medicine,
University of Southern California (USC)
Jeffrey Burns, MD, MPH
Emeritus Chief
Division of Critical Care Medicine
Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine
Boston Children's Hospital
Professor of Anesthesia
Harvard Medical School
DATE
Initial publication date: August 25, 2026.
ARTICLES REFERENCED & ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
- Derrington S, Broden Arciprete EG, Lin MC, et al. Executive Summary of Society of Critical Care Medicine 2026 Guidelines on the Care and Management of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Patients at the End of Life. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2026;27(4):487-493.
- The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
TRANSCRIPT
https://cdn.bfldr.com/D6LGWP8S/as/v66vz9xj5t6qtmjwjkcrmr7/202608_WSP_Derrington_and_DeCourcey_Transcript
Please visit: http://www.openpediatrics.org OPENPediatrics™ is an interactive digital learning platform for healthcare clinicians sponsored by Boston Children’s Hospital and in collaboration with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies. It is designed to promote the exchange of knowledge between healthcare providers around the world caring for critically ill children in all resource settings. The content includes internationally recognized experts teaching the full range of topics on the care of critically ill children. All content is peer-reviewed and open-access thus at no expense to the user. For further information on how to enroll, please email: openpediatrics@childrens.harvard.edu
CITATION
DeCourcey DD, Derrington S, O’Hara JE, Burns JP. Pediatric End-of-Life Guidelines & Insights. 08/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/pediatric-end-of-life-guidelines-and-insights-by-d-decourcey-and-s-derrington-openpediatrics.
