Whom to help? An exploration of the assessment of grief

Palliative care, and the nursing care associated with it, includes the time around bereavement. Assessment of whether people are at risk of adverse bereavement consequences or suffer such consequences during their time of grief is important. Such assessment, which palliative care nurses are ideally placed to perform, can target those who need more support and intervention. This review investigates factors which it is important to recognise during nursing assessment of risk and outcome, with particular emphasis on the use of published tools. Three main recommendations are made: for provision of education about grief assessment for nurses; for more careful choosing and use of assessment tools; and for careful consideration of timing of assessment.