The role of the district nurse in bereavement support

Birtwistle, Jon; Payne, Sheila; Smith, Peter; Kendrick, Tony

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02208.x

Cited by 38 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…as an important part of their roles 21,22 and a satisfying aspect of personal care provision, 23 although time pressures often result in it having low priority. 23,24 They recognise the major impact of loss 25 and see it as part of their duty to make contact with those who are recently bereaved, 22,26 although some question the appropriateness of doing so, fearing being an unwelcome reminder of the death 27 and medicalising grief.…”

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A 2002 survey of district nurses found that 83% believed they had an important role in bereavement care and 82% thought they should make contact with patients who were bereaved. 21 Some district nurses, however, see this as, primarily, a GP responsibility 21 and view visiting people with whom they have no prior relationship as inappropriate practice. 29 Both groups recognise the need for interprofessional coordination within the primary care team.…”

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…23,29 There is a lack of clarity concerning best practice. 27 Seeking to tailor their care to the needs of the individual, 21,26 practitioners are uncertain whether to routinely contact all patients who are bereaved or to wait for them to consult. 23,28 They are uncertain how best to make contact, that is, whether as a home visit, by telephone call, or by letter.…”

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…23,28 They are uncertain how best to make contact, that is, whether as a home visit, by telephone call, or by letter. 21 No study has investigated the areas that GPs and district nurses view as important to cover beyond being sympathetic, empathetic, and compassionate. 22 In the absence of training in the area, practice is largely based on personal experience of loss and cultural norms.…”

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

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Bereavement care in primary care: a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis

Nagraj¹,

Barclay²

2011

Br J Gen Pract

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BackgroundOver half a million people die in Britain each year and, on average, a GP will have 20 patients die annually. Bereavement is associated with significant morbidity and mortality, but the research evidence on which GPs and district nurses can base their practice is limited. AimTo review the existing literature concerning how GPs and district nurses think they should care for patients who are bereaved and how they do care for them. DesignSystematic literature review. MethodSearches of AMED, BNI, CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline and PsychInfo databases were undertaken, with citation searches of key papers and hand searches of two journals. Inclusion criteria were studies containing empirical data relating to adult bereavement care provided by GPs and district nurses. Information from data extraction forms were analysed using NVivo software, with a narrative synthesis of emergent themes. ResultsEleven papers relating to GPs and two relating to district nurses were included. Both groups viewed bereavement care as an important and satisfying part of their work, for which they had received little training. They were anxious not to 'medicalise' normal grief. Home visits, telephone consultations, and condolence letters were all used in their support of bereaved people. ConclusionA small number of studies were identified, most of which were >10 years old, from single GP practices, or small in size and of limited quality. Although GPs and district nurses stated a preference to care for those who were bereaved in a proactive fashion, little is known of the extent to which this takes place in current practice, or the content of such care.

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Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Gp and District Nurse Attitudes To Bereavement Carementioning

confidence: 99%

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Bereavement care in primary care: a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis

Nagraj¹,

Barclay²

2011

Br J Gen Pract

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“…These units were chosen to get a rich variation concerning staff members' perceptions of providing bereavement follow-up in palliative care. In Sweden as well as in other countries palliative care and bereavement support is also considered to be part of primary care, not only a matter for specialized palliative care services [3,29]. Therefore, the study context was three advanced palliative home care teams (APHC) and three primary care services in Sweden.…”

Section: Study Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“A rewarding conclusion of the relationship”: staff members’ perspectives on providing bereavement follow-up

Milberg

Appelquist

Hagelin³

et al. 2009

Support Care Cancer

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rewarding conclusion of the relationship": staff members' perspectives on providing bereavement follow-up, 2011, Supportive Care in Cancer, (19) None of the respondents stated that bereavement follow-up was "most often difficult", 23%, "most often rather difficult", 52.5% "most often rather easy" and 12.5% "most often easy". Apart from a tendency for age to be linked to perceived difficulty, there were no apparent patterns. Bereavement follow-up was a positive opportunity to support the family member's coping with their bereavement and to get feedback on the palliative care provided.Critical aspects concerned the question of whose needs actually were being met at bereavement follow-up, i.e. the staff members' needs for getting feedback on the care provided vs. the risk of burdening the family members' by reminding them of the deceased's dying trajectory. Aspects that negatively influenced the staff members' experiences were complex and related e.g. to the family member's dissatisfaction with the care provided, to the staff member's perceived lack of competence and to the staff member's relationship to the family member. Conclusions: Bereavement follow-up was perceived as a rewarding conclusion to the relationship with the family member. The findings suggest that meaningbased coping might be an appropriate framework when understanding staff members' experiences with providing bereavement follow-up.

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Designing and Conducting Qualitative Studies

Payne¹

2004

Health Psychology in Practice

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The role of the district nurse in bereavement support

Cited by 38 publications

References 22 publications

Bereavement care in primary care: a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis

Bereavement care in primary care: a systematic literature review and narrative synthesis

“A rewarding conclusion of the relationship”: staff members’ perspectives on providing bereavement follow-up

Designing and Conducting Qualitative Studies

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