Helping Families Grieve A significant family health issue that nurses frequently face throughout their practice is families losing loved ones and the grief they suffer. According to Rando (1984, as quoted in Benkel , et al, 2009) “Grief is the process of psychological, social and somatic reactions to the perception of loss” (p. 141.) Moules , et al, defined grief more poetically but no less accurately as “an experience that is ongoing, that changes in nature over time, but that involves a continuing relationship with the deceased; it is a graceful, periodic, deliberate walk backwards while keeping a sure foot in living forward” (p. 99). It is an emotional, physical, spiritual, and cognitive experience that stays with us all our lives. For...The end:
.....ly intervention for relatives whose family members died in palliative cancer care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, Vol. 19, p. 1040-1048. Love, A.W. (September, 2007). Progress in understanding grief, complicated grief, and caring for the bereaved. Contemporary Nurse, Vol. 27, p. 73-83. *PUT REST OF TEXTBOOK REFERENCE IN PROPER ALPHABETICAL ORDER. Nurses and Families: A Guide to Family Assessment and Intervention. Moules , N.J., Simonson, K., Prins , M., Angus, P., and Bell, J.M. (2004) . Making room for grief: Walking backwards and living forward. Nursing Inquiry, Vol. 11(2), p. 99-107. White, P. and Ferszt , G. (February, 2008). Exploration of nurse practitioner practice with clients who are grieving. American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.