Bo's Place - Where Children are Heard and Hearts are Healed

Exploration of Nurse Practitioner Practice with Clients Who Are Grieving

Authors:
White, Patricia
Ferszt, Ginette

Source:
Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners: 2009, 21, pp. 231-240.

Summary

This article summarizes the results of a qualitative study designed to explore the clinical practice of nurse practitioners working with patients who were grieving.  Data were collected via semistructured interviews conducted by the researcher with nine nurse practitioners. The authors found that the nurse practitioners included an assessment of the patient’s grief along with the assessment of the patient’s overall physical and emotional well-being. In addition, the authors found that the nurse practitioners deliberately incorporated issues regarding grief into the patient’s plan of care. Care for grieving patients included validating the experience of grief, prescribing medications and self-care, educating the patient about grief, and referring to mental health providers. The authors also found that nurse practitioners watched for improvements in well-being and coping for the patients who were grieving. The authors of this article note that even though the nurse practitioners were skilled in assessing, treating, and evaluating outcomes, more education and training related to grief theory and research would be helpful for nurse practitioners.

Key Words: nurse, interview, training

Service Provider Implications

This article alerts service providers to the role nurse practitioners play in helping those in grief, and identifies the need for more grief education for nurse practitioners.