OPENPediatrics

This Nursing World Shared Practice Forum explores end-of-life care simulation and skills education, designed to strengthen acute care nurses’ clinical skills, communication abilities, and resilience. The panel discusses the inspiration and evolution of the program, its target audience, course structure, high-fidelity simulation experiences, and methods used to evaluate outcomes. Speakers highlight how simulation provides a psychologically safe environment for nurses to practice difficult conversations. They also share lessons learned from implementing the program and offer practical guidance for organizations and nurse leaders considering similar initiatives.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Describe the rationale and inspiration for developing a pediatric end-of-life care simulation program
- Identify key components of an effective end-of-life simulation program, including psychological safety, communication skills practice, high-fidelity simulation, and structured debriefing
- Explain how simulation can help nurses develop confidence and skills for difficult end-of-life conversations and emotionally complex clinical situations
- Identify key considerations for developing, evaluating, and sustaining an end-of-life simulation program within a healthcare organization

AUTHORS
Patricia Hickey, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
Senior Vice President, Associate Chief Nursing Officer (ACNO)
Cardiovascular, Critical Care, Perioperative Nursing/PCO
Boston Children’s Hospital
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Harvard Medical School

Michele DeGrazia, PhD, RN, NNP-BC, FAAN
Director of Research
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
Maternal Child Health Faculty,
Sandra L. Fenwick Institute
Nurse Scientist
Boston Children's Hospital

Dorothy Beke, MS, RN, CPNP-PC/AC, WCC, FAAN
Cardiac Intensive Care Unit Nurse Practice Specialist
CICU Mechanical Circulatory Support Nursing Resource
Cardiology Clinic Nurse Practitioner
Heart Center Bereavement Coordinator
Boston Children's Hospital

Annette Imprescia, BSN, RN, CCRN
Clinical Educator
Staff Nurse III
Associate Clinical Director of Nursing
Immersive Design Systems, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
Boston Children's Hospital

JoEllen Edson, MSN, RN, CPHON
Professional Development Practitioner
Stem Cell Transplant Unit
Boston Children's Hospital

DATE
Initial publication date: October 13, 2026.

TRANSCRIPT
https://cdn.bfldr.com/D6LGWP8S/as/n9bg8gsrx94phc5338j6v6g/NWSP_Building_Nurse_Resilience_Through_End-of-Life_Care_Training__Hickey_101226

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
Hickey PA, DeGrazia M, Beke DM, Imprescia A, Marcley S, Edson JE. Building Nurse Resilience Through End-of-Life Care Training. 10/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/building-nurse-resilience-through-end-of-life-care-training-by-p-hickey-et-al-openpediatrics.

In this World Shared Practice Forum Podcast, co-authors Dr. Barry Markovitz and Ms. Ann Schrooten discuss their book, Shared Struggles: Stories from Parents and Pediatricians Caring for Children with Serious Illness. They share personal experiences and narratives from families and clinicians to explore the unique partnership between families and healthcare providers caring for children with serious illness and medical complexity. Lastly, they highlight the importance of communication, empathy, trust, and humility in building meaningful relationships that support children and their families throughout their care journey.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Describe the role of parent-physician partnerships in caring for children with serious illness and medical complexity
- Recognize strategies for effective communication with children who are nonverbal and the importance of incorporating parents' expertise in clinical decision-making
- Discuss how empathy, compassion, and active listening contribute to trust and help build therapeutic relationships between healthcare providers and families
- Examine the value of shared decision-making in delivering family-centered pediatric and palliative care

AUTHORS
Barry Markovitz, MD, MPH
Professor of Pediatrics
University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine
Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital

Ann F. Schrooten, JD
Attorney
Fitzgibbons Law Offices, P.L.C

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: September 22, 2026.

REFERENCES
- Schrooten A, Markovitz BP. Just Because I Can't Talk Doesn't Mean I Have Nothing to Say. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2025;26(6):e860-e861.
- Schrooten AF, Markovitz BP, eds. Shared Struggles: Stories from Parents and Pediatricians Caring for Children with Serious Illnesses. Copernicus Books; 2021.

TRANSCRIPT
https://cdn.bfldr.com/D6LGWP8S/as/8w9gnk94ctgww7bq3b3qszs7/20260917_WSP_Markovitz_and_Schrooten_transcript

Please visit: 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
Markovitz BP, Schrooten A, O’Hara J, Burns JP. Pediatric Medical Complexity: Shared Insights. 09/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/pediatric-medical-complexity-shared-insights-by-b-markovitz-and-a-schrooten-openpediatrics

This podcast provides viewers with an overview of pediatric cough including how to conduct a thorough patient history, identify significant physical exam findings, and generate a differential diagnosis emphasizing the difference between acute and chronic cough causes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Conduct a thorough history for pediatric patients presenting with a cough.
- Explain the significance of key physical exam findings in evaluating pediatric cough.
- Discuss a broad differential diagnosis for cough in pediatric patients.

AUTHORS
Christina Callas, MD
Pediatrician
University of California, Davis Children's Hospital

Eli C. Freiman, MD
Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician
Mass General Brigham/Newton Wellesley Hospital

DATES
Initial Publication: September 17, 2026.

Please visit: 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

Please note: OPENPediatrics does not support or control any related videos in the sidebar; these are placed by YouTube. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

CITATION
Callas C, Freiman E, Fantasia K, McFee AM, Wolbrink TA, Wills K. Approach to Cough. 09/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/approach-to-cough-by-c-callas.

In this Complex Care Journal Club podcast episode, Dr. Jason Zamkoff discusses a quality-improvement cohort study of a surgical hospitalist co-management program (Surgical Hospitalist Assisted Recovery/SHARe Team, or “Pink Team”) for children with medical complexity at Children’s Hospital Colorado. They describe how patients are selected using an internal complexity score and the institutional trust-building needed to launch the program, resulting in fewer post-operative emergency transfers to intensive care. Next steps include developing an externally validated complexity scoring tool and extending hospitalist involvement into the pre-operative period.‌

SPEAKER
Jason Zamkoff, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Pediatric Hospitalist
Children's Hospital Colorado

HOST
Kilby Mann, MD
Associate Professor,
Director of Pediatric Rehabilitation
University of North Carolina School of Medicine

DATE
Initial publication date: September 8, 2026.

JOURNAL CLUB ARTICLE
Zamkoff J, Acker SN, Martin A, Anderson L, Bennett H, Thysens J, Thomas JJ, Conant M, Kurtz M, Gupta R, Scarberry J, Burke M, Koehler R, Rolison E, Whitney G, Ziniel SI, Carney KP, Wilcox D, Lockwood JM. Surgical Hospitalist Assisted REcovery (SHARe): Preventing Post-Operative Emergency Transfers. Hosp Pediatr. 2026 Jul 21:e2025008778. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2025-008778. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 42476571.

OTHER ARTICLES REFERENCED
Martin A, Acker S, Hankinson TC, Zamkoff J. Perspectives on Interdisciplinary Perioperative Care for Children with Medical Complexity. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2026 Apr;73(2):513-524. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2025.12.003. Epub 2026 Feb 26. PMID: 42020046.‌

TRANSCRIPT
https://cdn.bfldr.com/D6LGWP8S/as/9c5mmqqq86knpmsgss5xrm8/Zamkoff_transcript_9-1-26‌

Clinicians across healthcare professions, advocates, researchers, and patients/families are all encouraged to engage and provide feedback! You can recommend an article for discussion using this form: https://forms.gle/Bdxb86Sw5qq1uFhW6.

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
Zamkoff J, Mann K. The Pink Team Effect: Reducing Postoperative Emergency Transfers in Complex Care. 08/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/the-pink-team-effect-reducing-postoperative-emergency-transfers-in-complex-care

This video provides an overview of pediatric septic shock, including definitions, pathophysiology, management, and the use of the sepsis bundle to guide timely management.‌

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Describe patients who present with signs and symptoms of septic shock, including exam features that support early recognition and assessment.
‌‌• Review the arterial oxygen content formula and strategies to optimize oxygen delivery to the tissues.
• Apply current sepsis definitions to clinical care to identify, evaluate, and guide the management of patients with suspected sepsis or septic shock.‌
• ‌‌Explain the role of the sepsis bundle in optimizing timely management, improving adherence to evidence-based interventions, and supporting better patient outcomes.‌

AUTHORS
Jill O'Hara, MD, MPH
Assistant in Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine‌
Boston Children's Hospital

Kate Madden, MD, MMSc‌
Assistant in Critical Care Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine‌
Boston Children's Hospital

DATES
Initial Publication: September 4, 2026.

Please visit: 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

Please note: OPENPediatrics does not support or control any related videos in the sidebar; these are placed by YouTube. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

CITATION
O'Hara JE, Brodie K, Madden K. Pediatric Septic Shock. 09/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Video. https://on.soundcloud.com/xB071iR4TUcWNxUBIj.