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Bereavement Needs of Critical Care Nurses: A Qualitative Study
Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing : DCCN
|May 7, 2021
Summary
Critical care nurses experience significant emotional distress and bereavement needs, often leading to burnout. Enhanced education and self-care programs are crucial for supporting nurses coping with patient death.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Psychology
- Healthcare
Background:
- Bereavement and grief among critical care nurses is understudied.
- Nurses often prioritize patient needs, neglecting their own bereavement process.
- Self-protection mechanisms like compartmentalization can hinder emotional processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore critical care nurses' bereavement needs following patient death.
- To understand how nurses perceive, process, and cope with patient loss.
- To gain insight from nurses' lived experiences.
Main Methods:
- Qualitative, phenomenological focus group design.
- Conducted with 10 critical care nurses.
- Audio-recorded discussions analyzed via content analysis.
Main Results:
- Seven themes identified: emotional distress (compassion fatigue, burnout, moral distress), empathy, secondary traumatic stress, unrealistic expectations, detachment, lack of education, and self-care resources.
- Emotional distress significantly impacts nurses' well-being.
- Nurses face challenges related to personal loss resurfacing and workplace expectations.
Conclusions:
- Increased education on bereavement is needed in nursing programs.
- Interventional studies exploring nurse self-care are essential.
- Workplace and personal self-care strategies are vital for supporting nurses' emotional health.
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