The role of nursing in bereavement
Abstract
Bereavement The role of nursing in bereavement Assessment, planning, and intervention strategies to improve care for the grieved Ida M. Martinson Margaret Dimond Patricia MacElveen-Hoehn Lorna Mill Barrel! Introduction Nursing currently plays an important role in thecare of persons and families dealing with major loss and death. The profession is uniquelysuited to a role in be- reavement care by virtue of theeducation of nurses, the focus of nursing on both the patient and family, and the leadership alreadyprovided by nursing in this field. Nursing provides the most comprehensive andholis- tic education of all the helping disciplines becauseof its longtradition in responding to the needs of personsex- periencing a wide range of states of health and illness. This tradition has been based on the available under- standings of growth and development across the life span; physical, psychological, social, and cultural aspects of health; and health deficits and health deple- tion, which affect not only the patient but also his or her family and their community. Ida M. Martinson, RN, PhD, isProfessorand Chair, Depart- ment ofFamily Health Care Nursing, University ofCalifor- nia, San Francisco. Margaret Dimond, RN, PhD, isAssociate Professor ofNurs- ing, Director ofFamily and Geriatric Nurse Clinician Pro- gram,