Hospital-Based Interventions to Address Provider Grief: A Narrative Review.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare
• Psychology
• Medicine

Background:

• Provider grief, stemming from patient deaths, is a significant stressor for healthcare professionals.
• This grief can negatively affect provider well-being, capacity to manage stress, and the quality of patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review hospital-based interventions designed to help physicians and nurses cope with provider grief.
• To identify common intervention types and their reported effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• A narrative review of 29 articles from PubMed and PsycINFO databases.
• Studies focused on hospital-based interventions for healthcare provider grief.

Main Results:

• Interventions included educational programs, critical incident debriefing, and psychosocial support (art, groups, retreats).
• Most participants found interventions helpful for reflection, closure, stress relief, and team cohesion.
• However, results were mixed regarding the statistical significance of reducing provider grief.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare providers generally benefit from grief-focused interventions.
• Research in this area is limited, with heterogeneous evaluation methods hindering generalization.
• Increased access to grief services and more evidence-based research are crucial.