Caregiver/resident relationships: surrogate family bonds and surrogate grieving in a skilled nursing facility

The study investigated the occurrence of surrogate family bonds and surrogate grieving by staff members (n = 25) at a rural skilled nursing facility. Staff members were educated on both concepts then given a structured interview to test for occurrence and identification with these concepts. Public opinion, as well as the literature, describes the caregiver/resident relationship as a historical, lacking close emotional bonds. However, staff members are often observed to report close emotional bonds and grieving over the death of residents. This study tested the hypotheses that self-reported caregiver surrogate family bonds and self-reported caregiver surrogate grieving would exist at a significantly higher rate than the literature would predict. Chi-square analysis supported the hypothesis for surrogate family bonds, chi 2 (1, n = 25) = 17.64, P < 0.001. Surrogate family bonds were found to occur in 92% of the present sample. However, surrogate grieving was not supported and was found to occur in only 52% of the sample.