David Ray DeMaso, MD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist
at Children's Hospital Boston commented on the following:

In the cardiac intensive care unit, parents face complex and life-threatening medical situations, and in many cases, need to understand the issues well enough to provide consent for treatment and/or surgery. The essential and urgent questions, "Will my child get better?" and "How long will it take?" may not be answerable. Given the frequent focus on technology, parents and staff may have long discussions about the diagnosis or laboratory results; however the outcome of the illness and the bottom-line questions (from above) may remain unanswered. This is one reason that it is helpful for parents to understand "when it seems like they are not getting any answers.

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