When nurses grieve: How well are we caring for the carers?

INTRODUCTION All who experience personal bereavement require support to assimilate to the changed reality of living without a loved one. However, unlike the general public, nurses need to do so whilst remaining empathetic and understanding of the concerns of the clients they are caring for – clients who themselves may be experiencing illness, pain, grief or impending death. RESEARCH QUESTION/AIMS This research informs the question: ‘How are nurses supported to work following a personal bereavement experience?’ The study has two primary aims: 1) To establish the extent of existing policy and practice regarding bereavement support for registered nurses (RNs) working in the role of staff nurse in secondary and tertiary healthcare services in New Zealand; 2) To ascertain the experience of RNs in the same practice settings, returning to work following a personal bereavement. STUDY DESIGN AND METHOD This descriptive study utilised a web-based survey to gather responses from two independent groups of participants: Charge Nurses (CNs) and Nurse Managers (NMs) employed within secondary and tertiary healthcare services in New Zealand, with direct team leader responsibility for RNs working in staff nurse roles; RNs working in staff nurse roles within the same practice settings, who experienced a personal bereavement (defined as being the death of a family member, friend or colleague) between eighteen months and five years previously. FINDINGS Thirty one eligible responses to a CN/NM survey were received whilst 70 responses informed a RN survey. Study findings reveal four notable themes: The limited organisational policy to assist NMs to support bereaved nurses; The disconnect between NMs perceptions of bereavement support provided, and those of bereaved nurses; The lack of consideration given to the bereaved nurse’s safety to work prior to the recommencement of nursing duties; The incongruity between managerial attitudes and practices in relation to grief and contemporary models of bereavement.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Nursing

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Rowan, Fiona

• New Zealand
• registered nurses
• grieving
• safety to practise
• support
• policies
• surveys

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6380

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6380