The Heart of a Teacher Essay Example for Free

The Heart of a Teacher Essay As I leaned on my headboard, I found myself heading towards the enjoyment of reading this article about how the real teacher teaches with his/her heart in the classroom. And so I started reflecting on what kind of a teacher I am. Teaching at first has not come in my wildest dream but since the family whom I came from cannot afford to send me to exclusive schools or well-known universities where I can pursue my career (fine arts which I wish to pursue), there’s no way out but to take up the course of education. I fear the fact of entering this path because in the first place, it’s not my first choice and it’s none of my choices. I think I had only the nerve to enroll since my mom is also a teacher. It was funny to recall when my professor in the graduate school, Dr. Irapta, asked who among us had experienced role playing as a teacher at home during our childhood, pretending that it was a real classroom scenario. I wasn’t sure how would I answer that question since the real thing is that I hadn’t. But years went on and I started and learned to love what teaching has to offer me. And I think that I already possess what this article is trying to imply, the heart of a teacher. With this, I do agree with the statement that quotes â€Å"We became teachers for reasons of the heart, animated by a passion for some subject and for helping people to learn. † It is very evident on us who consider teaching as a vocation wherein we put our heart not only to the occupation itself but to the student-learners and the subject as well. Sometimes we’re carried by the fact that we create harmonious relationship with this community of teachers, students and subject. We’re driven by some objectives, not only for the salary but our mission and passion to help the innocent ones to get them out of their shells and discover the reality of unbelievable ideas and concepts in this world. But, we cannot deny the fact that many of us lose heart as the years of teaching go by for so many reasons. The question becomes: How can we develop and sustain, in ourselves and each other, the heart for good teaching? Good teaching requires courage – the courage to explore one’s ignorance as well as insight, to yield some control in order to empower the group, to evoke other people’s lives as well as reveal one’s own. This means overcoming fears that block good teaching and learning. When our fears as teachers mingle and multiply with the fears inside our students, teaching and learning become mechanical, manipulative, and lifeless. Some tend to be distracted with the external forces around them; some were disillusioned with the factors and techniques for reclaiming their hearts and for keeping each heart open. When we lose our heart, we need an understanding of our condition that will liberate us from this condition. We need to keep our hearts open to students so that we can make teacher and students and subjects be interwoven into the fabric of community that learning and living require. We, teachers must try to connect ourselves, as well as our subjects to students so that we can create good rapport and learning environment. There must be an inner dialogue of reflection. â€Å"Seldom, I ask the â€Å"who† question–who is the self that teaches? How does the quality of my selfhood form–or deform–the way I relate to my students, my subject, my colleagues, and my world? How can educational institutions sustain and deepen the selfhood from which good teaching comes? † In relation to this, we need to recover the heart to teach by reclaiming our relationship with the teacher within. Listening to the voice within is somewhat easy to do and in fact, helped me to simply reflect on what I have done in a day’s work. The same thing as putting my heart while reading this article and finding solitude and silence just to cope up with the question in me, â€Å"How can I develop the capacity to stand my ground in the midst of the complex forces of both the classroom and my own life? † We must reclaim our relationship with the teacher within. A teacher who invites me to honor my true self-not my ego or expectations or image or role, but the self I am. The voice of the inward teacher reminds me of my potentials and limits as I negotiate the force field of my life. What we teach will never â€Å"take† unless it connects with the inward, living core of our students’ lives, with our students’ inward teachers. We can only speak to the teacher within our students when we are speaking with the teacher within ourselves. How does one attend to the voice of the teacher within? Some particular methods are solitude and silence; meditative reading and walking in the woods, keeping a journal, finding a friend who will simply listen. I merely propose that we need to learn as many ways as we can of â€Å"talking to ourselves. † However, conversation with my peers feels like being at ease, trusted and able to trust and above all, it helps me cultivate a sense of identity and integrity that allows me to feel at home wherever I am. I experienced sometime in my own teaching when I lose touch with my inner teacher and my own authority. During those times, I tried to regain it by wielding the threat of grades but when the voice within authorized me to teach, authority comes as I reclaim my identity and integrity, as I remember my selfhood and my sense of vocation. When the teachers struggle to survive from losing their heart, I guess it would also be practical to have some fun and techniques that ordinary teachers can use in everyday class. The same thing with my experience, I use different techniques, much practical techniques, such as motivating the students and getting their attention to focus on the subject, which will result to staying alive of the students inside the classroom. It is also a daily scenario in our faculty room where they argue about what to do with the students. Some questions their own limits and potentials when it comes to dealing with the relation between the subject and students’ lives. I won’t forget when my co-teacher told me how he was envious about my strategies and techniques on classroom management and on my way of teaching; how do I make my class in order and teach with my heart while during his class with the same set of students, he fails to control the discipline and fails to earn full respect of the whole class which must be evident on their way of interaction. While listening to his clamors, I was thinking of the best techniques I could offer him, but, to my surprise, it came to the point that he was planning to quit teaching. I don’t know why he had that thought of giving up until I read this article. I realized that he has lost his heart and he must be able to understand his condition so that he can avoid himself from truly losing it and recover from it instead. This teacher must talk with the teacher within him and find out how to overcome this condition. As I go on reading the article, I found the statement that says, â€Å"The institutions in which they work are the heart’s worst enemy,† which is indeed correct. Some leaders operate with a deep, unexamined insecurity about their own identity. These leaders create institutional settings which deprive others of their identity as a way of dealing with the unexamined fears in the leaders themselves. Institutions continually try to diminish the human heart to consolidate their own power, then, the individual self of a teacher is left with a discouraging choice. In the end, the teacher will be distant from the institution or will maintain external vigilance against institutional invasion. Teachers have leadership capabilities waiting to be unlocked and engaged for the good of the schools. But if the teachers in some schools or institutions will not be given chance to grow not only professionally but also inwardly, there’s a tendency that the teacher might withdraw from teaching. The question is, â€Å"how can the institution educate students if they fail to support the teachers’ inner life? † We must create enough spaces and trusting relationships within the teachers’ workplace. With this, we may be given opportunities to grow inwardly as teachers and we can be able to tell our own struggles and joys as teachers so that healing can happen within us – not only for our sake but our teaching and students as well. With this, we can bring back our hearts to teaching and reclaim our identity and integrity in teaching.

My First Chat Room Experience Essay -- Internet Communities

My First Chat Room Experience Perhaps some of the most amusing sites to visit on the Internet are the online communities. Given this topic, I was forced, although it was inevitable experience hardly avoidable, to do some self exploration by entering the intriguing world of chat communities. Communities designed for talk, friendship, romance, entertainment, education, support, or even pleasure. With the variety of topics I had the opportunity to explore, I was exposed to all of these options. Initially, my first experience was frustrating and awkward. However, as I became more familiar with the sites, I was able to navigate around quicker and acquire helpful information and resources. In essence, entering the online community world has offered me unparalleled experiences which have strengthened me both educationally and emotionally. Although the Internet is quite a mechanically inclined experience, (ie research a topic, find the information, and leave), I discovered the online communities can also offer a completely different emotional experience. An experience which provides worldwide participants a forum to interact with faceless and often nameless strangers like themselves. An interaction based on a linguistic connection rather than a physical one. While this type of relationship may seem impersonal to an online community virgin, I came to discover in my journey that the physical distance between communicators is hardly important in comparison to the emotional connection. If one is emotionally close to someone, distance is definitely an insignificant factor. At the same time, one can be physically close but emotionally eons apart. In addition, while the medium of the conversation is anonymous and often discreet, this seems t... ...was definitely a memorable one. I experienced and learned in every room I visited. Still my favorite was undoubtedly the interracial chat room. The emotional support it provided was far more substantial than the pure enjoyment aspects of the other sites. Overall, each site provided a different service. A service catering to the requests a highly focused audience. However, I noticed the online communities did have one common underlying thread. The ability to bring people together and give them a sense of belonging. While I admit I will probably not visit a few of these sites again, they were all helpful in making my first chat room experience a truly unforgettable one. WORKS CITED http://www.angelfire.com/ak/hotwax2/index.html http://chat.yahoo.com/?=Interracial%20Dating http://chat.yahoo.com/?room=basketball http://www.twsonline.com/INTERracial/ir-chat.html

The book “Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom” Report

The book â€Å"Other People’s Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom† by Lisa Delpit provides detailed overview of popular progressive pedagogies ad special attention is paid to finding ways to deliver the best learning for all students. The central argument is that modern education systems often fail to respond to learning needs of diverse students. We are living in diverse world and every classroom is represented by linguistically and culturally diverse students. In the book Lisa Delpit tends to relate progressive learning methods with dominant culture norms. Delpit claims that mismatch is pervasive and educational institutions should teach students considering their cultural roots as students from non-dominant communities find it difficult to comprehend new culture and to learn. Therefore, the central thesis of the book is that learning theory and learning process are profoundly rooted in the culture and, thus, they can’t be ignored when teaching diverse students. The title of the book is metaphoric as, in such a way, the author shows that our world is culturally diverse and other people’s children should be paid more attention during the studying process. Language and learning peculiarities of colour students is often being repressed and assailed. Statistics is really shocking – too many professionals tend to fully ignore cultural factors when they work with students from other courtiers. When students are ‘other people’s children’, the author means that those students are non-white population. Delpit combines theoretical framework with practice and, therefore, her recommendations and reflections are well grounded. As far as the author is educational and sociolinguist anthropologist, analytics and criticism are both present. The author describes practical implementation of her theories and shows that after two decades of practices progressive pedagogies do have benefits. For example, the author describes her experiments in the culturally diverse classroom in Native Alaskan schools and in Inner City. Despite educational settings are located in different places, the results are apparent: progressive pedagogies are of great importance as children feel more comfortable and more confident when teachers consider their cultural peculiarities. The first section â€Å"Controversies Revisited† defends Delpit’s evocative ideas. Her essay â€Å"The Silenced Dialogue† is a critical response for essay â€Å"Skills and Other Dilemmas of a Progressive Black Educator†. Delpit reproaches advocates of whole language because she believes that writing process instructions should be changed and should match learning needs of children from non-dominant cultures. The second section â€Å"Lessons from Home and Abroad: Other Cultures and Communities† offers two informative and factful articles fleshing vision of schools. The author shares her personal international experiences and illustrates two conflicts. In such a way, she is willing to maximize the educational potential culturally diverse students. The conflicts are defined as the following: firstly, context vs. the de-contextualizing rituals of mainstream schooling; secondly, human connectedness vs. the dehumanizing, heritage-destroying processes. These articles prove that Delpit’s advice is seasoned and synthesized from perspectives of educators of color. The third section â€Å"Teachers' Voices: Rethinking Teacher Education for Diversity† discusses American dilemma of cultural disparities in teacher-student interactions, and it is known that Delpit, for he reasoning and progressive ideas, has gained a reputation of being fearless as she tends to convey perspectives of educators of color, in particular, when disputing the popular wisdom of mainstream. The author shows that a power imbalance is still present in most American classrooms. In particular, power imbalance exists in increasingly diverse public schools. Delpit writes that â€Å"one would have to be completely off-target not to realize that Blacks and other people of color often get the short end of the stick when it comes to commanding and exercising power in educational settings†. (Delpit, 1995) Therefore, many argue that Delpit’s reading is thought-provoking and especially valuable. Delpit says that power imbalance may result in racial and gender conflicts in classrooms and the quality and quantity of learning will be negatively affected. Learning outcomes will be doubtful. The author uses thoughtful and measured terms when she tries to explain how parents, students and teachers from diverse groups should develop ingenious means of resisting dominant-group incursion. Ample evidence is offered to show that dominant-group school personnel often fail to interpret fully the knowledge base and, as a result, the potential of non-white students is stifled, and the mark in their assessment is ultimately missing. The work provides corrective responses: â€Å"This combination of power and otherness is what this book is all about. Black, white, Indian, Hispanic or Asian, we must all find some way to come to terms with these two issues. When we teach across the boundaries of race, class or gender — indeed when we teach at all — we must recognize and overcome the power differential, the stereotypes and the other barriers which prevent us from seeing each other. Those efforts must drive our teacher education, our curriculum development, our instructional strategies, and every aspect of the educational enterprise. Until we can see the world as others see it, all the educational reforms in the world will come to naught†. (Delpit, 1995) Personal Reflection I think that the book â€Å"Other People’s Children† should become a ground for teaching for many white teachers. The book is enlightening and empowering as it offers new approaches to teaching. Lisa Delpit is innovative in her filed as she recommends considering cultural roots when teaching students from non-dominant cultures. The book is reasoned and the author invites the audience to understanding the learning needs of diverse students, as well as provides overview of realities of multicultural schooling stressing that every student from non-dominant culture faces a number of challenges. In my opinion, the author is trying to make modern educators realize that education should be improved and such issues as ethnicity, gender and nationality should be paid more attention. One more positive moment is that educational needs of individuals are quite different and professional educators should find ways how to respond to needs of every student. The book is divided into three parts and each part conveys important message. For example, the first section stresses the importance of literacy and literature in modern schools, whereas the second section discusses the impact of culture on education system. Finally, the third section provides recommendations how to make changes in education system and how to teach multicultural classrooms. Mainstream education is associated with dominant education and it is a pity that dominant culture is related to the culture of urban professionals and business world. In other words, dominant culture is the culture represented by white population, middle-class individuals and college educated population. I like the way the author tries to assure the audience that the majority of students are African-American students from low-income families and their rights should not be neglected and ignored as they are personalities and they deserve better living, good education and position in society. Education and discrimination should not come along. I agree with the author that culture has significant impact on education as, for example, non-white students tend to have their own code of language and behavioural patterns and, thus, they often lack skills for establishing Standard English. Knowledge is limited for children from non-dominant cultures and the main reason is lack of basic knowledge and instructional skills. Delpit recommends setting the same standards for all students disregarding their gender and nationality. The problem is that not many professional educators are interested in building and enforcing necessary knowledge for students. Modern society teaches individuals to be well-educated and well-informed of surrounding. Nevertheless, a series of problems is presented in modern American schools. The most important problem is that many teachers don’t think of the student’s future – they simply fulfil their responsibilities and nothing more, but it is wrong as teachers should get their students through particular class and prepare the road for future. Educators and parents must encourage students to learn and to display their abilities and desires. Individuals, disregarding culture and gender, should be allowed to express their feelings, emotions and fears through experiences. Moreover, students should be allowed to use their words and teachers should guide them. Teachers should provide students with more freedom; they should not correct students, but rather to guide them. Fluency of language must be of top priority. Summing up, the book allows teachers to recognize the changes and patterns which remain unrecognized in educational sphere.

Holistic care of a terminally-ill neonate in Australia - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2582 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Medicine Essay Type Essay any type Did you like this example? In the Australian tertiary health care system, best practice in the care of a terminally-ill neonate and the neonates family centres on the provision of holistic care. Neonates and their families are considered an interdependent system; therefore, holistic care involves the complete physical and psychological care of both the neonate and the family. However, quality holistic care can be challenging for nurses to achieve, particularly in a complex palliative model of care. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Holistic care of a terminally-ill neonate in Australia" essay for you Create order This paper discusses the best practice holistic care of a terminally ill neonate and the neonates family in the context of the Australian tertiary health care system. The term palliative care refers to the withholding and / or withdrawal of life sustaining treatment in patients with terminal illness, to prevent or relieve suffering and allow death to occur (World Health Organisation, 2015). In all patients, and children in particular, the World Health Organisation (2015: n.p.) highlights that palliative care must be a holistic process, one which provides active total care of the childs body, mind and spirit, and [which] also involves giving support to the family. Palliative care is concerned with providing a terminally ill neonate with the best conditions in which to live and with facilitating a comfortable death (Ahern, 2013; Bergstraesser, 2013). As parents are fundamental in the decision-making processes around neonatal palliation and as it is they who will be the most signific antly affected by these decisions (Branchett Stretton, 2012; Larcher, 2013), neonatal palliative care places a particular focus on caring for parents. There is consensus in the academic literature for palliation as the best model of care for neonates who are terminally ill; indeed, both the Australian College of Neonatal Nurses (2010) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (2014) highlight palliative care as a best-practice option for terminally ill neonates in the Australian context. It is accepted that the parents of a terminally-ill neonate in palliative care require significant emotional support from neonatal nurses and other members of the health care team. Parents of palliated neonates often experience a complex emotional reaction to their situation, typically one of grief, shock and confusion (Badenhorst Hughes, 2007; Gardner Dickey, 2011). They may also experience feelings of profound loss, related not only to the impending loss of their child but al so to a loss of their expectations, aspirations, role as parents and family dynamic, etc. (Gardner Dickey, 2011). Additionally, it is not uncommon for parents to feel indecisiveness, shame or guilt about the decision to palliate their neonate (Reid et al., 2011), particularly when the outcome of the neonates condition is uncertain. There is evidence from one early Australian study to suggest that women who experience neonatal loss have significantly higher rates of psychological distress and a greater risk of clinical depression than other mothers (Boyle et al., 1996). Thus, it is essential for neonatal nurses to validate the complex emotions the parents of a palliated neonate experience as being part of a normal and healthy psychological process (Badenhorst Hughes, 2007). The provision of a clinical environment where parents complex emotions can be expressed and explored is also important. Best-practice models of neonatal palliative care recommend that parents take a lead role in the care of their infant, both in terms of decision-making and practical care (PSANZ, 2009; Australian College of Neonatal Nurses, 2010). Whilst some parents may resist providing care for and thus becoming attached to a palliated neonate, fearing that this will increase the degree and duration of their grief following the childs death, there is evidence to suggest this is not the case for many parents (Gardner Dickey, 2011). There is also evidence which indicates that many parents regret not spending more time with their deceased neonate, both prior to and following death (Williams et al., 2008). Thus, the literature recommends that parents should be treated by neonatal nurses as welcome partners in the care of their baby (Griffin, 2013). Parents should also be encouraged and supported to be involved in the care of their baby to the extent that they feel comfortable doing so (PSANZ, 2009). So that parents may be meaningfully and safely involved in the care of their palliated baby, it is important that neonatal nurses provide them with the information they require to make informed decisions à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and this may begin in the palliation planning phase. Developing a flexible, transparent and family-centred palliation plan is essential, and so that their preferences are met, parents should take a key role in this process (Williamson et al., 2009). The palliation plan must focus on enabling open caregiving policies, highlight parents wishes for their neonate and be legally documented (Breeze et al., 2007; Wiliamson et al., 2009; Gardner Dickey, 2011). Whilst most parents wish to be involved in decisions and planning around end-of-life care for their neonate, they may find this responsibility overwhelming (Williams et al., 2008). Parents will be exposed to a range of options and opinions which they must synthesise in order to make the best decisions for their family; however, it is important for neonatal nurses to realise that highly emotive situa tions can often cause significant deficits in parents ability to comprehend and process such information (Williams et al., 2008). Evidence suggests that repetition printed literature is important in the provision of information to parents in situations involving neonatal death (PSANZ, 2009). The timing and delivery of the information provided by neonatal nurses should also be carefully planned to ensure maximal uptake (PSANZ, 2009). Australian guidelines recommend that when supporting the parents of a palliated neonate, neonatal nurses focus on the normalcy of parenthood wherever possible (PSANZ, 2009). Neonatal nurses should assist parents to engage in normal parenting opportunities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" including holding, changing and bathing their baby, and routine interactions such as reading cues and providing comfort à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" if they feel able to do so (PSANZ, 2009). For babies with longer palliative periods and where the babys condition permits, feeding à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã ¢â‚¬Å" including breastfeeding or the feeding of expressed breast milk à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" is also an important consideration. Normal rituals associated with infancy, such as naming ceremonies and baptism, should also be followed if the family consider these to be important (PSANZ, 2009; Weidner et al., 2011). A palliated neonates relationship with extended family may also be an important consideration for many families. Though visiting in intensive care nurseries is often restricted to parents, photographs and videos of the baby may be shared with extended family members and these relatives may be encouraged to send toys, clothing and nursery decorations, etc. for the baby in return (PSANZ, 2009). Research suggests that the support of family is a significant factor in the recovery of parents from the death of a neonate; indeed, the grief of parents may be enhanced when there is a lack of familial engagement with a palliated neonate (Gardner Dickey, 2011). Grief of the family its elf is also essential to consider; for example, there is evidence to suggest that better outcomes are achieved when grandparents and siblings are engaged with parents in the process of bereaving a deceased neonate (Roose Blanford, 2011). The literature suggests that the creation of tangible memories is fundamentally important to the parents of a palliated neonate, and this is included as a recommendation in Australian perinatal mortality guidelines (Capitulo, 2005; PSANZ, 2009). Memories collected may include photographs and videos, prints or casts of the hands and feet, locks of hair, identification bracelets or cards, toys and gifts, nursery decorations, and blankets, hats or clothing, etc. (De Lisle-Porter Podruchny, 2009; PSANZ, 2009). It is important to note that many parents, and particularly those in denial of their babys palliative state, may resist collecting such memories; in this case, it is recommended that hospitals do so and hold these with the babys clinical docu mentation until such time as the family is ready to receive them (PSANZ, 2009). So that parents may maximise the quality time they spend with their neonate, it is important for neonatal nurses consider the wider social factors which may affect them and their families (Ahern, 2013). Issues related to finances, employment commitments, accommodation, transport and the care of other children should be referred to a hospital social worker. Where required, postnatal medical attention in a clinical area where the mother will not be in close proximity to other healthy neonates, in addition to the suppression of lactation, are important (Badenhorst Hughes, 2007). The environment in which the palliative care takes place must also be considered; Australian guidelines suggest that this environment should be private, comfortable, peaceful and supportive (Kain, 2006; PSANZ, 2009). Once the decision has been made to palliate a neonate, all treatment which is not essential to the babys comfo rt must be withheld and withdrawn. This includes removing all inessential intravenous lines, invasive ventilation, monitors and pharmaceutical treatment. As the neonate begins to decline physiologically and the activity of the gastrointestinal system reduces, nasogastric feeding and hydration should also be ceased (Porta Frader, 2007). Administering an appropriate dose of narcotic analgesia to relieve discomfort and sedate the respiratory drive may be useful (Williams et al., 2008; Carter Jones, 2013); however, parents should be assured that this does not constitute euthanasia, which is illegal in Australia. At this stage, the end-of-life rituals should be conducted according to parental preference (Ahern, 2013). As the neonate progressively declines, it is essential that neonatal nurses prepare parents with information about how the babys death will likely occur. This includes the possibility of the neonate rapidly decompensating and displaying distressing signs such as hypoxic a gitation, gasping, intercostal recession, pallour and temperature loss (Brosig et al., 2007; Williams et al., 2008; Carter Jones, 2013). Information provided should also include the fact that timing to death cannot be predicted (Williams et al., 2008). Parents should be given a choice as to whether they remain with the neonate during death. Following death, parents should be provided with the opportunity to hold, change or bathe their baby if they wish to do so (PSANZ, 2009). Whilst many parents are reluctant to or even fear engaging with their deceased baby, there is evidence to suggest that no parent regrets this experience and that many find it valuable (Capitulo, 2005). The policies of most maternity services in Australia allow parents to view their neonate as many times they wish, and some may also provide parents with the option of taking the baby home for a short period (PSANZ, 2009). Once the parents are ready, neonatal nurses should assist them to complete death registr ation and autopsy documents, as appropriate. Nurses should also support parents to organise a funeral through a company of their choice; in Australia, a funeral is legally required for all neonates born at or over 20 weeks gestation. A funeral is particularly important for many parents in terms of achieving closure (Williams et al., 2008). Most literature recommends that the parents who have experienced a neonatal death receive early supported discharge from hospital (Gardner Dickey, 2011). Referral to support services in the parents own community à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" including general practitioners, counsellors and peer support groups, etc. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" are essential considerations. Follow-up is also important; for example, if an autopsy was performed, neonatal nurses should communicate these results to parents in a timely manner (PSANZ, 2009; Reid et al., 2011). Additionally, many parents find personal follow-up, including telephone calls and cards, from the neonatal nurse s who cared for their baby to be meaningful (Weidner et al., 2011), reinforcing that their child was important and will be remembered. In the Australian tertiary health care system, best practice in the care of a terminally-ill neonate and the neonates family centres on the provision of holistic care. As they are an interdependent system, holistic care involves the complete physical and psychological care of both the neonate and the family. This paper has discussed the best practice holistic care of a terminally ill neonate and the neonates family in the context of the Australian tertiary health care system. It has demonstrated that whilst holistic care may be challenging to achieve, it is essential in delivering the best positive outcomes in a complex situation such as neonatal palliation. References Ahern, K., (2013), What neonatal intensive care nurses need to know about neonatal palliative care, Advances in Neonatal Care, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 108-114. Australian College of Neonatal Nurses 2010, Palliative Care in the Neonatal Nursery: Guidelines for Neonatal Nurses in Australia, viewed 04 October 2015, https://acnn.sslsvc.com/acnn-resources/clinical-guidelines/G3-Palliative-care-in-the-neonatal-nursery.pdf Badenhorst, W., Hughes, P., (2007), Psychological aspects of perinatal loss, Clinical Obstetrics Gynaecology, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 249-259. Bergstraesser, E., (2013), Pediatric palliative care: When quality of lie becomes the main focus of treatment, European Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 172, no. 2, pp. 139-115. Boyle, FM., Vance, JC., Najman, JM., Thearle, JM., (1996), The mental health impact of stillbirth, neonatal death or SIDS: Prevalence and patterns of distress among mothers, Social Science Medicine, vol. 43, no. 8, pp. 1273-1282. Branchett, K., Str etton, J., (2012), Neonatal palliative and end of life care: What parents want from professionals, Journal of Neonatal Nursing, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 40-44. Breeze, ACG., Lees, CC., Kumar, A., Missfelder-Lobos, HH., Murdoch, EM., (2007), Palliative care for prenatally diagnosed lethal fetal abnormality, Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol. 92, no. 1, pp. 56-58. Brosig, CL., Pierucci, RL., Kupst, MJ., Leuthner, SR., (2007), Infant end-of-life care: The parents perspective, Journal of Perinatology, vol. 27, no. 510-516. 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