Art of accepting the ‘least bad death

That which constitutes a ‘good death’, or dying well, has long been of interest to philosophers and clinicians alike. While difficult to define due to its deeply personal nature and dependency on spiritual and cultural beliefs and past experiences, Wilkinson1 has drawn parallels from art and music to consider key ethical components. Few in clinical practice would dispute that a ‘good death’ is (at a minimum) one that does not rob the person of a valuable life, is aligned with the preferences of the patient and/or their family, where comfort and solace is provided, distress to family and caregivers is minimised or even (his extended argument) that dying is not prolonged.

However, what is more contentious is how tensions within the principles of a ‘good death’ should be managed or prioritised. In the context of caring for critically ill babies and children, the tension often takes the form of…

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