Nurses’ Experiences of Grieving When There Is a Perinatal Death

Many nurses grieve when patients die; however, nurses’ grief is notoften acknowledged or discussed. Also, little attention is given to preparing nurses forthis experience in schools of nursing and in orientations to health care organizations.The purpose of this research was to explore obstetrical and neonatal nurses’ experiencesof grieving when caring for families who experience loss after perinatal death. A visualarts-informed research method through the medium of digital video was used, informed byhuman science nursing, grief concepts, and interpretive phenomenology. Five obstetricalnurses and one neonatal intensive care nurse who cared for bereaved families voluntarilyparticipated in this study. Nurses shared their experiences of grieving during in-depthinterviews that were professionally audio- and videotaped. Data were analyzed using aniterative process of analysis-synthesis to identify themes and patterns that were thenused to guide the editing of the documentary. Thematic patterns identified throughoutthe data were growth and transformation amid the anguish of grief, professional andpersonal impact, and giving–receiving meaningful help. The thematic pattern ofgiving–receiving meaningful help was made up of three thematic threads: support fromcolleagues; providing authentic, compassionate, quality care; and education andmentorship. Nurses’ grief is significant. Nurses who grieve require acknowledgment,support, and education. Supporting staff through their grief may ultimately have apositive impact on quality of work life and home life for nurses and quality of care forbereaved families