Guest Editorial: Broadening Perspectives in Knowledge about Grieving

Abstract

In my clinical work and in my research with grieving families 1 have repeatedly heard stories about what happened at the time of the death of a loved one - and nearly always the story includes a reference to the nurse, whether the death of the loved one occurred in hospital or at home. Family members may not always remember the nurse's name, but they do remember the nurse's actions. They remember how the nurse responded to their mother's wish for fresh air by figuring out how to open the window; how the nurse took the time to answer the questions of their elderly father who didn't understand why his dying wife's feet were so cold; how the nurse prayed with them until the chaplain arrived; how the nurse cried with them; how the nurse gently gave them some idea of the path ahead - what they could expect to happen next; how the nurse phoned every week "just to see how we were doing," and located a grief support group for them. Years after the death, families remember such nursing actions with fondness and gratitude.