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1. Identify strategies to balance research responsibilities alongside other clinical, administrative, education and family roles. 2. Highlight practical insights on time management, goal-setting, and boundary-setting to prevent burnout while managing multiple responsibilities. In this early career breakout session, three investigators will share their multi-disciplinary perspectives about building and sustaining a program of research in the context of other roles as clinician, educator, caregiver and many others. During this moderated session, the panelists will highlight potential strategies and considerations for finding balance and success while navigating these different roles, including cultivating a supportive network, honing time-management skills, the art of saying "no" (or a stipulated "yes"), and identifying and prioritizing what matters. The panelists will share personal anecdotes and lessons learned from their own experiences, offering invaluable insights into how to navigate the challenges of juggling multiple responsibilities. From carving out dedicated research time amidst clinical duties to leveraging teaching opportunities to enhance research skills, attendees can expect a brief exploration of how to integrate different roles synergistically and a candid exploration of the challenges and opportunities in forging a career in research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Healthcare providers and parents face many challenges caring for infants at the end of life (EOL). Symptom assessment and management in critically ill infants can be especially difficult. However, the impact of the infant's EOL experience on bereaved parents is largely unknown.Objective: Explore associations between parental perceptions of infant symptoms and suffering at EOL in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and parent adjustment following the death.Methods: Retrospective, cross-sectional pilot study involving parents of infants who died within the previous five years in a large, Midwestern, level IV NICU. Parents were recruited through mailed invitations, and 40 mothers and 27 fathers participated from 40 families. Parents retrospectively reported on infant symptom burden and suffering during the last week of life and the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), and Prolonged Grief-13 (PG-13). Hierarchical regressions examined demographic/medical factors and parent perceptions at EOL in relation to post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and prolonged grief (PG).Results: Clinical levels of PTSS (Mothers = 18%; Fathers = 11%) and PG (Mothers and Fathers = 3%) were low. Maternal perception of higher symptom burden was associated with greater PTSS, R2 = 0.46, P= 0.001, and PG, R2 = 0.47, P < 0.01. Paternal perception of greater infant suffering was associated with greater PTSS, R2 = 0.48, P= 0.001, and PG, R2 = .38, P < 0.01.Conclusion: Perceptions of symptoms and suffering were associated differently with mother and father adjustment after bereavement. While not necessarily causal, better symptom management at EOL could minimize distress for both infants and their parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: It is challenging to provide supportive intensive care to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), giving them every chance for survival, while also trying to minimize suffering for both the infant and parents. Parents who believe their infant is suffering may alter treatment goals based on their perceptions; however, it is unknown how parents come to believe that their infant may be suffering.Objectives: To examine bereaved parents' perceptions of infant suffering in the NICU.Methods: Parents completed a qualitative interview exploring their perceptions of the level of suffering that their infant experienced at the end of life. Parents whose infant died in a large Midwestern Level IV regional referral NICU from July 2009 to July 2014 were invited to participate. Thirty mothers and 16 fathers from 31 families (31 of 249) participated in telephone interviews between three months and five years after their infant's death.Results: Four themes emerged from the qualitative analysis: 1) the presence/absence of suffering, 2) indicators of suffering, 3) temporal components of suffering (trajectory), and 4) influence of perceived suffering on parents, infants, and clinical decision making.Conclusion: Parents used signs exhibited by infants, as well as information they received from the health care team to form their perceptions of suffering. Perceived suffering followed different trajectories and influenced the decisions that parents made for their infant. Soliciting parent perspectives may lead to improvements in the understanding of infant well-being, particularly suffering, as well as how parents rely on these perceptions to make treatment decisions for their infant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]