Bereavement

In becoming more holistic in their approach to care nurses have, inevitably, widened their own role. The patient should long since have ceased to be a medical condition in a numbered bed and become, instead, an individual with a family, a place in the community and a life before and apart from his illness. What happens then when a person cannot return, healed, to his former and separate life? What if the family, whom the nurse may have come to know well, has to cope with the pain of his death both in anticipation and after the event? How should the nurse behave? Furthermore, what of the preventive element in modern nursing? A bereaved individual may be at increased risk of mental illness, physical decline, accidents or even suicide. How can nurses intervene to minimize the damage? This practical book addresses just such questions. It has grown out of the author's work with bereaved people and with the nurses who care for them, and should be a useful guide for all caring professionals.