Author Question: A nurse had cared for a terminally ill patient for over a month and always looked forward to ... (Read 44 times)

Deast7027 · **on:** Jul 19, 2018

A nurse had cared for a terminally ill patient for over a month and always looked forward to spending time with the patient. When the patient died, the nurse experienced sadness and felt mildly depressed.

Eventually, the nurse explains these feelings to a mentor. The mentor should counsel the nurse:

a. about stress-reduction strategies.
b. to seek therapy for dysfunctional grief.
c. about the experience of disenfranchised grief.
d. to consider taking a leave of absence to pursue healing.

Question 2

Children of a widowed parent confer with the nurse; their surviving parent repeatedly relates the details of finding the deceased parent not breathing, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), going to the hospital by ambulance,

and seeing the pronouncement of death. The family asks, What can we do? The nurse should counsel the family:

a. they should share their feelings with the surviving parent and ask for the retelling to stop.
b. retelling the story should be limited to once daily to avoid unnecessary stimulation.
c. retelling memories is to be expected as part of the aging process.
d. repeating the story is a helpful and a necessary part of grieving.

dajones82 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 19, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: C
The nurse is experiencing disenfranchised grief. Nurses often incur loss that is not openly acknowledged or publicly mourned. The loss of a patient may not be recognized or acknowledged by others; therefore the grief is solitary and uncomforted and may be difficult to resolve.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: C
Nurses are encouraged to tell bereaved patients that telling the personal story of loss as many times as needed is acceptable and healthy; repetition is a helpful and necessary part of grieving.