Because we spend 12-13 hours a day with this family, we don’t
leave for longer than half an hour at a time. Doctors and other
members of the multidisciplinary team come in and out, and
fair enough, they get to know the parents too, but you do get
a sense of what is appropriate the more time you spend with a
patient, and what is going to be important to them might not be
important to another set of parents. Every family is different. . .
this is my third 12-hour day with this family, and they’ve told
me things they haven’t told anyone else. I’ve seen all the photographs,
I’ve gotten to know the child from the parents, and I
will do what is appropriate for them, even if it’s not, you know,
‘the party line’, if you will. (PICU FG 12-12)