Introduction: The aim of palliative care is to improve the quality of patients' lives and consideration of their physiological, psychological, sociocultural, and spiritual needs. Pediatric palliative care depends on the age and needs of each individual child, regarding decisions and wishes of parents. Neonates are among the most vulnerable and entirely dependent on their parents and with no ability to express their needs and feelings Purpose: In diploma work we wanted to research neonatal palliative care and to address the exploratory issues. Methods: In the research, a descriptive method with a review of professional literature was used. The literature was found in the Cinahl Ultimate and Medline databases and in the PubMed search engine using a predefined search string. Results: The literature review consisted of 19 foreign professional articles. The results have shown the importance of palliative care of newborns to ensure dignified process of dying. A lot of studies have been done in order to show various ways and methods of treating the symptoms experienced by a neonate. The usage of non-pharmacological methods such as kangaroo care and breastfeeding is advised, as well as application of pain relief medications. The research has shown that effective palliative care is inadequate because of the insufficiently educated medical personnel and a lack of guidelines and protocols in performing neonatal palliative care. The role of nursing care is insufficiently represented in the results. It is demonstrated in the constant attendance of the nurse with the newborn and its family and also in assessing and considering individual needs. Discussion and conclusion: It has been proved that palliative care is important for the newborn child and its family. Treating the symptoms in neonatal palliative care is performed using various methods, which improve the quality of life of a newborn child and enables making bonds with parents and creating memories. Medical personnel have difficulties with various limitations in their work that prevent efficient care. Additional research is needed in the field of nursing care in neonatal palliative care.
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