We have located links that may give you full text access.
Critical care nurses' experiences of grief in an adult intensive care unit.
Journal of Advanced Nursing 2010 January
AIM: This paper is a report a study of critical care nurses' experiences of grief and their coping mechanisms when a patient dies.
BACKGROUND: The goal of patients entering critical care is survival and recovery. However, despite application of advanced technologies and intensive nursing care, many patients do not survive their critical illness. Nurses experience death in their everyday work, exposing them to the emotional and physical repercussions of grief.
METHOD: This study adopted a Heideggerian phenomenological approach, interviewing eight critical care nurses. Data collection occurred in 2007/8. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and themes generated through Colaizzi's framework.
FINDINGS: Participants reported feelings of grief for patients they had cared for. The death of a patient was reported as being less traumatic if the participant had perceived the death to be a 'good death', incorporating expectedness and good nursing care. They described how a patient's death was more significant if it 'struck a chord', or if they had developed 'meaningful engagement' with the patient and relatives. They denied accessing formal support: however, informal conversations with colleagues were described as a means of coping. Participants exhibited signs of normalizing death and described how they disassociated themselves emotionally from dying patients.
CONCLUSION: There are many predisposing factors and circumstantial occurrences that shape both the nature of care of the dying and subsequent grief. Repeated exposure to death and grief may lead to occupational stress, and ultimately burn out. Emotional disengagement from caring for the dying may have an impact on the quality of care for both the dying patient and their family.
BACKGROUND: The goal of patients entering critical care is survival and recovery. However, despite application of advanced technologies and intensive nursing care, many patients do not survive their critical illness. Nurses experience death in their everyday work, exposing them to the emotional and physical repercussions of grief.
METHOD: This study adopted a Heideggerian phenomenological approach, interviewing eight critical care nurses. Data collection occurred in 2007/8. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and themes generated through Colaizzi's framework.
FINDINGS: Participants reported feelings of grief for patients they had cared for. The death of a patient was reported as being less traumatic if the participant had perceived the death to be a 'good death', incorporating expectedness and good nursing care. They described how a patient's death was more significant if it 'struck a chord', or if they had developed 'meaningful engagement' with the patient and relatives. They denied accessing formal support: however, informal conversations with colleagues were described as a means of coping. Participants exhibited signs of normalizing death and described how they disassociated themselves emotionally from dying patients.
CONCLUSION: There are many predisposing factors and circumstantial occurrences that shape both the nature of care of the dying and subsequent grief. Repeated exposure to death and grief may lead to occupational stress, and ultimately burn out. Emotional disengagement from caring for the dying may have an impact on the quality of care for both the dying patient and their family.
Full text links
Related Resources
Trending Papers
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: diagnosis, risk assessment, and treatment.Clinical Research in Cardiology : Official Journal of the German Cardiac Society 2024 April 12
Proximal versus distal diuretics in congestive heart failure.Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation 2024 Februrary 30
World Health Organization and International Consensus Classification of eosinophilic disorders: 2024 update on diagnosis, risk stratification, and management.American Journal of Hematology 2024 March 30
Efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapy in chronic insomnia: A review of clinical guidelines and case reports.Mental Health Clinician 2023 October
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app
All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.
By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
Your Privacy Choices
You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now
Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university
For the best experience, use the Read mobile app