Developing a nursing caregiver bereavement resource package

Abstract

We are all aware of the changing health care system and the many stresses and strains that face oncology nursing caregivers. Dealing with death and dying in a constructive manner is one of the many challenges facing oncology nursing. This paper will outline how the nursing worklife issues committee of our hospital developed one approach to assisting staff nurses in exploring their feelings around this issue. We used the concept of critical incident stress as our framework for this  project. Critical incident stress is described as "any significant emotional event that has power, because of the circumstances in which it occurs, to cause unusual psychological distress in healthy normal people". We identified that dealing with dying patients, families and death on an ongoing basis can result in circumstances in which critical incidents can occur. In developing this resource package, the purpose was twofold: To acknowledge the emotional impact of working with oncology patients and to provide resources that the nurse can use to effective work through the emotions associated with repeated patient losses. The resource package consists of a booklet that the committee developed, articles, cartoons, poems, though-provoking ideas and an outline on how to debrief after a critical incident has occurred. People have used the resource package and consulted with the committee members according to their needs. The resources we developed and the theoretical background will be explored in this paper.