A Proposed Model of Health Professionals' Grieving Process

Abstract

This article proposes a model that conceptualizes health professionals' reactions to the multiple deaths of their patients, in terms of loss and grief. It suggests that grieving is both an individual and a social-interactive process that may be understood in terms of an ongoing fluctuation between experiencing grief reactions by focusing on the loss experience, and repressing or avoiding grief reactions by moving away from it. This fluctuation allows professionals to attribute meaning to the death of individual patients, and to transcend these losses by investing in life and living. The interaction between individual idiosyncratic factors ("life style") and environmental factors ("work style") is described in terms of how they affect the grieving process. Special consideration is given to the individual and collective forms of grieving, and to the role of team support.Over two decades have passed since the beginning of the modern hospice movement. Knowledge about the particular needs of the dying patient and the family have dramatically increased and specialized services have been developed to respond to those needs. Since early formulations of basic principles and assumptions underlying the standards for care of the terminally ill, special attention has been paid to the role of staff members and their involvement with patients. It was assumed that, "Good terminal care presupposes emotional investment on the part of the staff," who need "time and encouragement to develop and maintain relationships with patients and relatives" (International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement, 1979). It was, moreover, recognized that such commitment often produces emotional exhaustion and it was recommended that effective staff support systems be readily available for those who work with the terminally ill and the family.

Impact of Client Death on Clinical Geropsychologists: A Qualitative Analysis

“…However, these findings contradicted previous findings that repeated experience with patient death is associated with increased symptoms of burnout and longstanding distress and fatigue (Figley, 2002;Keidel, 2002;Papadatou, 2000;Strom-Gottfried & Mowbray, 2006). In the present study, only one participant mentioned a sense of fatigue associated with client death.…”

“…Additionally, the present results provided preliminary support for Papadatou's (2000) model of health professionals' grief. Because this model was designed as a general model that encompasses multiple helping professions, and this study was specifically focused on professional psychologists, there were some differences in terminology and specificity.…”

Patients’ constructions of disability in metastatic spinal cord compression

“…38,39 Two main models of adaptation to loss predominate: those in which adjustment follows a series of stages over time 40; and those which, rejecting a linear model, propose instead an oscillating or pendular response. 41,42 The model derived from this study differs from all three models outlined thus far: individual character; stage of development; pendular response. It has something in common with the latter but takes the idea of an oscillating response a step further to suggest that patients do both -'acknowledging' and 'not acknowledging'-simultaneously.…”

Revealing the Meaning of the Mourning Process of Pediatric Nurses Facing the Death of Cancer Patients

“…Todas estas vivencias tienen un impacto único que lleva a las enfermeras a cambiar su propia filosofía de vida forjando una actitud más realista que les permite re-evaluar sus prioridades y encontrarle sentido a las situaciones difíciles del día a día (21,29). A esto se suma el hecho de que ellas manifiestan satisfacción al sentir que contribuyeron en el momento de la muerte del niño, al procurar realizar un cuidado de la mejor manera posible, a pesar de las dificultades que se pudieron presentar (19,25).…”

“…Para ellas, el compromiso de realizar un mejor cuidado va de la mano del ser comprensivo, solidario y no prejuicioso, lo que es valorado por los padres a través de la retroalimentación positiva que ellos les entregan tras la muerte de sus hijos (20,21). nal favorece la elaboración del duelo y, a su vez, genera rituales que están enmarcados en ambientes de confianza y respeto (29,32,34). Lo anterior se potencia si existe una capacitación formal para el afrontamiento de los pacientes pediátricos en fase terminal, dado que además de disminuir la ansiedad ante su muerte, permite interactuar más activamente con ellos, entregando una atención de calidad (14).…”