Theory of Chronic Sorrow and Nursing Application

Including the client as an expert member of the team creates an enhanced quality of care (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). In pediatrics, parents are often at the center of the child’s care. When asked to define what made the client care experience positive, parents stated that sensitivity, empathy and honesty were key factors (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). Working in healthcare, nurses can become desensitized to difficult experiences because they deal with them daily. Integrating the client and family as part of the healthcare team, allows the nurse to see the patient and family as a people first. By avoiding using illness as context, and instead using person as context, care will be more holistic (Coad, Patel & Murray, 2014). A family-focused approach helps to ensure that the whole family feels a part of the experience and is valued. In the case of bereavement, family centered care is particularly important. If the family is not included in the care from the start, it can provide barriers for grieving and impact how the family deals with loss (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). Nurses have an opportunity to help support the family through the grief process (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). Families have a significant impact on how the client heals, so by caring for the family’s needs, the nurse is indirectly caring for the patient. It is in the client’s best interest for the care to be holistic for the patient as well as the family (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). All

On reading this article and identifying the study, there was a clear insight on how death and dying, and even improved health, impacted those nurses (Conte, 2014). Nurses, who worked closely with their patients, through the perils and suffering, culminating of death and losses, had grief not readily explored to enable that comfort zone (Conte, 2014).

The life transition of death and dying is inevitably one with which we will all be faced; we will all experience the death of people we hold close throughout our lifetime. This paper will explore the different processes of grief including the bereavement, mourning, and sorrow individuals go through after losing someone to death. Bereavement is a period of adaptation following a life changing loss. This period encompasses mourning, which includes behaviors and rituals following a death, and the wide range of emotions that go with it. Sorrow is the state of ongoing sadness not overcome in the grieving process; though not pathological, persistent

This paper examines the implications of grief, bereavement and disenfranchised grief. Grief in response to a loss is a unique experience and is expressed distinctively by every individual. It is helpful to have models that outline the stages of grief that need to be experienced in order to achieve acceptance. However, their utility is limited by the reality that grief is immeasurably complex and individualized. Veterans and children are two groups at risk of developing disenfranchised grief. Therefore, it will be important for nurses to be able to identify those suffering with disenfranchised grief or other forms of maladaptive grief so appropriate intervention may be employed.

An important thing for nurses to do that are supporting bereaved individuals and families is to build rapport with the bereaved individual and family. In the study “Role of district and community nurses in bereavement care: a qualitative study” by Johnson (2015) found that “knowing the family and building rapport with them would help in the identification of any problems should they arise.” In order to be able to support a bereaved individual it is important for the nurse to know the stages and types of bereavement in order to provide effective care (Johnson, p.500, 2015). No matter what type of nursing a person choses for their career it is important to know the bereavement process. When nurses support bereaved family members of a patient it is essential that they know how to actively listen. Listening receptively and intently to an individual shows respect for the person and interest in what he or she has to communicate. When nurses are able to actively listen this demonstrates understanding and empathy. One last thing that is important is for nurses to be culturally competent. When nurses are culturally competent they are able to understand cultural differences and customs that in turn allows them provide the best possible care. Nurses need to accept the bereaved individuals beliefs and be nonjudgmental regardless of their own personal feelings or values. The nurse needs to be self-aware of

Cumulative grief is known as a caregiver’s emotional response to many episodes of grief (Shorter & Stayt). The multiple encounters with death give a nurse no opportunity to grieve adequately or completely for each individual patient that has died (Shorter & Stay, 2010). The unresolved grief accumulates and can lead to emotional and physicals problems which can then effect a nurse professionally and personally (Shorter & Stayt, 2010). The effects of cumulative grief include denial, feelings of decreased personal competency, overwhelming grief, low self-esteem, and pre-occupation with death (Shorter & Stayt,

Disenfranchised grief can affect an individual experiencing loss that is not societally recognized. A term originally described by Kenneth Doka, disenfranchised grief is classically defined by four components, and one specific population subject to experiencing disenfranchised grief is nurses. This is due to the predominant cultural values found in the nursing profession as well as the parameters of the nurse-patient relationship. Knowing that nurses are potentially vulnerable to disenfranchised grief, it is important to discuss the mechanisms to minimize the factors contributing to its occurrence and the consequences of its effects. Awareness of how to help oneself can then be utilized to increase efficacy in the nurse’s position and in aiding patients who are duly experiencing disenfranchised grief.

Someone who is grieving will experience “major psychological, spiritual, social and physiological” changes throughout the grieving process (Hooyman & Kramer, 2006, p37). There are many theories and models that support these words. This essay will discuss Freud’s theory of grief work (Davies, 2004), Bowlby’s attachment theory (Walsh, 2012), and Worden’s tasks of grief (Worden & Winokuer, 2011). The major tasks of grief throughout the four different stages of life will be looked at, as well as common grief reactions, and ways to support people through these. In addition how children, adolescents, adults and the elderly understand and respond to grief will be examined. Finally how people at the various stages of life confront their own death will be looked at, including some personal examples.

A loss of a loved one, especially a child, is a painful event, and devastating to any parent, therefore, it is important to have a strong support system to obtain strength, peace, and comfort. Grief is a process that could not be hurried, and must be permitted to happen ("Grief of Parents," 2005). Grief could be experienced not just through a loss of a loved one, but also in a diagnosis of debilitating disease, or even the loss of a limb. During these difficult times, Swanson’s Caring Theory could be applied.

Complicated grief (CG) is a mental disorder characterised by intense emotions following the death of a loved one, severely and persistently impacting on daily life, compared to normal cases of bereavement (Solomon & Shear, 2015). Lichtenthal, Cruess and Prigerson’s (2004) review discusses the necessity of acknowledging and defining CG as a separate mental disorder. CG is not considered a mental disorder under the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), but is within the category of ‘Disorders Requiring Further Study’ (Shear, Ghesquiere & Glickman, 2013). In Lichtenthal et al.’s (2004) review, CG is defined, and a distinction is made between normal and ‘complicated’ grief. A justification for the discriminant validity of CG is also made, by differentiating CG from other disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD) and adjustment disorder (AD).

The loss of a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences to endure in a human lifetime. The grieving process often encompasses the survivors’ entire world and affects their emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and physical selves in unexpected ways. After a major loss, such as the death of a spouse or child, up to a third of the people most directly affected will suffer detrimental effects on their physical and/or mental health (Jacobs 1993).

Grief is the act following the loss of a loved one. While grief and bereavement are normal occurrences, the grief process is a social construct of how someone should behave. The acceptable ways that people grieve change because of this construct. For a time it was not acceptable to grieve; today, however, it is seen as a necessary way to move on from death (Scheid, 2011).The grief process has been described as a multistage event, with each stage lasting for a suggested amount of time to be considered “normal” and reach resolution. The beginning stage of grief is the immediate shock, disbelief, and denial lasting from hours to weeks (Wambach, 1985). The middle stage is the acute mourning phase that can include somatic and emotional turmoil. This stage includes acknowledging the event and processing it on various levels, both mentally and physically. The final stage is a period of

In relation to the purpose of this study, the driving force behind the research are three questions. What are nurses experience following patient’s death? What are their actions and coping strategies following patient death? Would better learning opportunities and supportive practice environments be provided once there is an understanding of nurses’ grief and coping process, if yes, was it beneficial. The researchers proceeded with a broad question which allowed the focus to be sharpened and delineated later in the

The loss of a loved one is a very crucial time where an individual can experience depression, somatic symptoms, grief, and sadness. What will be discussed throughout this paper is what the bereavement role is and its duration, as well as the definition of disenfranchised grief and who experiences this type of grief. I will also touch upon the four tasks of mourning and how each bereaved individual must accomplish all four tasks before mourning can be finalized. Lastly, with each of these topics, nursing implications will be outlined on how to care for bereaved individuals and their families.

This essay explores several models and theories that discuss the complexities of loss and grief. A discussion of the tasks, reactions and understanding of grief through the different stages from infants to the elderly, will also be attempted.