Nurses’ experiences of caring for the suddenly bereaved in adult acute and critical care settings, and the provision of person-centred care: A qualitative study

Abstract

Aim: To explore nursing interventions for person-centred bereavement care in adult acute and critical care settings.Design: A descriptive exploratory study, involving focused, face-to-face interviews.Participants comprised nine registered nurses and one auxiliary nurse, working in environments where sudden death was known to occur, i.e. emergency, cardiac and critical care. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data subjected to directed content analysis. The provision of person-centred care was examined by applying a validated Person-Centred Nursing Framework.

Understanding the bereavement care roles of nurses within acute care: a systematic review

“…Nurses working in advocacy roles facilitated communication between families and medical teams, to assist in the understanding of end‐of‐life and bereavement care (Caswell et al . , Walker & Deacon ). Nurses were also identified as interpreters of information, being able to speak in ‘plain language’ for families and translating medical information to assist in decision‐making (Caswell et al .…”

“…, Slayter et al . , Walker & Deacon ). The systematic review similarly identified multidisciplinary collaboration, which was integral for the provision of bereavement care in acute hospitals (Pincombe et al .…”

“…Bereavement care refers to provisions of nursing care that impact on the grief and the bereavement process for families, this care is commonly provided during end‐of‐life care for dying patients. Nurses within acute care hospitals are in the unique position to meet the needs of the suddenly bereaved and skilled interventions are necessary in providing psychosocial support to families during end‐of‐life care (Walker & Deacon ).…”

The experience of person‐centred practice in a 100% single‐room environment in acute care settings—A narrative literature review

“…To demonstrate this engagement with patients and their families, researchers in a variety of programmes of care, dementia (Røsvik, Brooker, Mjorud, & Kirkevold, ); mental health (Beckett et al, ); and bereavement (Walker & Deacon, ), have used components of the PcPF. The lens of PcP has also been used to explore how the delivery of care is documented (Broderick & Coffey, ); to explore quality improvement methodologies (Bateman, Anderson, Bird, & Hungerford, ); and to inform reflection and practice development processes (Manley, O 'Keefe, Jackson, Pearce, & Smith, ).…”

Spotlight on Bereavement Care

“…Emotional support and a meeting to review the events prior to patient death were the types of support most desired by bereaved family members who participated in this study. Researchers have also uncovered the emotional impact of nurses' exposure to dying, death and bereavement in ICU (Bloomer et al, 2015;Lima et al, 2018;Shorter and Stayt, 2010), and nurses' need for peer support, and reflective debriefing to give closure to events (Walker and Deacon, 2016).…”