The death of an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a profound and unexpected loss for parents that results in a complex process of coping with bereavement. A descriptive qualitative approach was used to explore parent bereavement and coping experiences after infant death in the NICU. The dual process model of coping with bereavement was used as a conceptual framework to help understand how parents cope with grief after infant death. Living with infant death was a process that resulted in major life changes and a process of oscillating among various coping strategies.
Further investigation of the impacts of mentoring relationships upon job satisfaction, recruitment and retention, the teaching-coaching role, and scholarship activities of actively practicing NNPs is indicated.
Families continued to face challenges, but findings were consistent with other studies showing that, despite early adversities, these adopted children generally fared well developmentally with protective family environments of major importance.
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