Experiencing the loss of a pregnancy or an infant can be a devastating and traumatic experience for families worldwide. As a nurse, providing compassionate care to families affected by loss is essential. Being empathetic and understanding their situation is crucial in helping them cope with their grief and move forward. Understanding these families' challenges during these difficult times is essential to my approach to supporting grieving families. The video "Helpful/Hurtful: Families Talk about Pregnancy and Infant Loss" offers insight into the emotional journey of families facing pregnancy and infant loss. It emphasizes the impact of supportive and compassionate care from healthcare providers. One of the most significant sources of support for families dealing with pregnancy and …show more content…
Initially, caregivers may find themselves overwhelmed by their grief, making it challenging to attend to the physical and emotional needs of surviving siblings, especially younger children requiring intensive care (Weaver et al., 2023). Nurses should explore available support systems to assist caregivers in coping with grief and addressing the needs of all family members affected by loss. Extended family, friends, or social services can provide short-term support while caregivers cope with the shock (Weaver et al., 2023). Reflecting on personal experiences with pregnancy loss within my own family, I understand the profound impact it has not only on parents, but also on siblings and extended family members. I have gained a greater understanding of the various effects of pregnancy and infant loss by witnessing my mother's grief and navigating conversations about loss and resilience among siblings. This has emphasized the importance of addressing the emotional needs of all family members affected by such loss in my nursing
Nurses play a big role in supporting the parents while their child is in the NICU. Showing compassion and demonstrating caring actions when caring for the patient makes it more likely that the parents will trust the nurse and the information the nurse gives them regarding their child’s condition. This trust is important as it helps the parents feel confident in the decisions they are making about their child’s care. When the parents of an ill child in the NICU have decided to terminate treatment palliative care by the nurse and other healthcare providers comes into play. Palliative care is keeping the child comfortable by treating the symptoms and being there for the parents and child physically, emotionally, and spiritually (Eden & Callister, 2010).
It reflects trust, intimacy, and responsibility, which are elements essential to any nursing relationship. It is the core of nursing. In the article, “Dimensions of Caring: A Qualitative Analysis of Nurses’ Stories”, an analysis was done on over two hundred stories submitted by nurses around the world, illustrating the point that the practice of nursing encompasses much more than just technical skills. In one of the stories, a nurse stood by the side of a young mother grieving the loss of her baby with nobody else to turn to. This nurse accompanied the 19 year old mother to the cemetery the day after the baby’s death, New Year’s Eve, to bury her baby that had been born at just 22 weeks gestation. She bought her a book on grieving and loss and supported the woman during that difficult time. This nurse did not have to do that—she did not have to go above and beyond for this stranger. But she did. She felt empathy and compassion for this woman and she acted on that. That is what nursing is about, going above and beyond, making emotional investments into the lives of other people. The significance of the actions of this nurse cannot be overstated. We will never know the full impact that this nurse made on that young woman’s life; perhaps she saved her life, or changed the direction of it for the
Kain, V. (2006). Palliative care delivery in the NICU: what barriers do neonatal nurses face?. Neonatal Network: NN, 25(6), 387-392.
The videos depicted the reality of life in poor developing countries where the basic necessities of life are unavailable and inaccessible resulting in high infant/maternal mortality rates, diseases, and disability. The experience also broadened my knowledge in terms of how to communicate and educate this population of women who are so ingrained in the existing traditional, harmful practices and beliefs that cause unsafe health outcomes for themselves. Cultural awareness and communication will be key components to prevent early marriage, childbirth, and obstetric fistulas. The activity also increased my awareness of the limited resources, information, and support available for the low income population to meet their daily needs and health necessities. As trained health care providers, we are an important source of information, aide, and support system for our vulnerable clients especially during hard times. Based on this course learning, I will continue to make an effort to provide accessible health information (e.g., treatment, monetary resources, medications, etc); basic self care needs (e.g., ADLs); and socio-psychological support to my patients in my nursing practice.
Sebold makes clear that these stages do not necessarily remain adamant, but that families coping with loss adhere to grief and loss in assorted ways. If readers confine their understanding of grief to coping and loss with death of a loved one, then the reader finds that they have trouble elucid...
It is important to understand what women commonly experience during pregnancy. With a better understanding of what happens during prenatal development and childbirth, physicians can competently develop the best plan for the mother and baby. I interviewed two women who have been previously pregnant in order to evaluate how the ideas in the book translate into real-life experiences.
Humanity has long experienced grief after death; however, only recently has the realm of anticipatory or preparatory grieving been explored to any degree. Our article below covers several aspects that may help those going through such a life event recognize the most common underlying symptoms and understand the process. Hopefully, it will help not only the families affected but the very loved one that soon will not be a part of the family unit.
They teach me how to weigh the babies, how to take their temperature, and how to monitor their heart rate. Although I learned all this in College, its nothing compared to doing it hands on. Every move we as neonatal nurses make are vital to the safety of these children. As I walk around the Nursery, I see all the little ones and hear them crying. One of the first things I notice is a very small infant in the corner of the room hooked up to bunch of tubes just like my brother was. An incubator is pressed against the wall with a light extending from it and in it, the child. I ask my supervisor what's wrong with Baby Michael, as the bracelet on his foot says. Her face gets serious as she looks at me and says “ He’s 10 weeks premature, his organs aren't fully developed and he's got a hole in heart. He is just so small. He won't make it thru surgery. “ These words sink in as I lower my head and walk to the restroom. It is there in that stall,on the 3rd floor of the maternity ward, where my tears start to flow. Possibility of death is always an outcome in the nursing field and I knew that before I even started in this direction, but why does it have to be so hard? I can't imagine what his parents are feeling after hearing this news. My family was once in the same situation and I know how scared we all were at the thought of losing my brother. As I think about this, I take a second and say a prayer
Nurses are both blessed and cursed to be with patients from the very first moments of life until their final breath. With those last breaths, each patient leaves someone behind. How do nurses handle the loss and grief that comes along with patients dying? How do they help the families and loved ones of deceased patients? Each person, no matter their background, must grieve the death of a loved one, but there is no right way to grieve and no two people will have the same reaction to death.
A nurse’s role in our society today is exceptionally significant. Nurses are somewhat idolized and looked to as our everyday “superman”. “The mission of nursing in society is to help individuals, families, and groups to determine and achieve physical, mental, and social potential, and to do so within the challenging context of the environment in which they live and work” (“The Role of a Nurse/Midwife”). Many Americans turn to nurses for delivery of primary health care services and health care education (Whelan). In our country, there is constantly someone in need of health care. There will always be a baby being born or a person dying, someone becoming ill or growing old. Some people due to their physical and/or mental state of health are completely dependent on a nurse and wouldn’t be able to get through the simple obstacles of every day, or achieve the necessary requirements of a simple day without their aid. Not only do nurses help, and assist you when you’re sick, but also act to promote good health to others. They end...
The societal taboo associated with death and dying is only worsened when death becomes imminent for an infant or child. Pediatric death and dying is a seldom discussed and often evaded topic in healthcare. This topic, although somber and challenging, is relevant for those nurses who encounter pediatric death and dying first hand. The following discussion will define death and dying in a pediatric population, identify the role of the bedside nurse in support of the dying child and parents of child, the bedside nurse’s role in an interdisciplinary team on a floor where death is a common occurrence, and promotion of nursing self-care to combat compassion fatigue and burnout.
In conclusion, grief is a universal and personal experience. Every child will experience grief differently. In order for patients to receive utmost care, nurses require thorough knowledge and understanding of the theories and stages of grief and loss Through implementing the practical nursing strategies that have been proposed, the nurse can provide the best possible care to a child and their family that are experiencing grief and loss in the acute care setting whilst also completing the four essential tasks of William Worden’s theory that are required for a child to grieve successfully.
INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to discuss the most efficient fatigue countermeasures that a manager can use military and commercial aviation to counter pilot fatigue. The discussion shall include, but not be limited to military and commercial aircrew fatigue, limitations, countermeasures, and safety management system. KEY THEMES Pilot fatigue still significant problem in the army and business aviation operations: the key issues including limitations affect the alertness and performance of both military and short and long haul commercial pilots, countermeasures to reduce pilot fatigue in military and commercial pilots, fatigue risk management system to help managers manage fatigue. LIMITATIONS Limitations from pilot fatigue affect
The nurse stated during the interview that “holding the hand of the patient just diagnosed with a terminal illness” (Appendix A) is difficult and requires a variety of techniques to face the situation. There are many ways to approach a dying patient, and one study identified four themes that help nurses in creating a “’curtain of protection’ to mitigate the grieving process and allow them to provide supportive nursing care” (Gerow et al., 2010). Of the four approached, there is one that appears to make the greatest impact on the nurse; the fact that initial patient deaths are formative. In this case, a study found that “significant death experiences early in a nurse’s career set the foundation for how the nurse began caring for future dying patients” (Gerow et al., 2010), which was further explained as the fact that those who had enough support and mentorship early on in their nursing practice were more likely to not be emotionally damaged by the event, and were able to better approach similar situations in the future. I plan on implementing this strategy in the future by surrounding myself with colleagues and mentors within my practice that I am comfortable confiding in whenever I happen to be struggling. A strong support network is key for maintaining proper emotional health, which is important for a nurse to have when working with vulnerable patients and providing competent
The death of a child is the most devastating loss a parent can ever experience. When a parent losses a child, something in the parents die too. The loss not only destroys the parents’, but also leaves an emptiness that can never be filled. The expectations and hopes of a future together are all just a dream now. Burying your child defies the natural order of life events: parents are not supposed to bury their children, children are supposed to bury their parents. Their life is forever changed and will never be the same. The parent not only mourns the loss of the child, but also mourns the loss of their child’s future. Parents will often visualize what their child could have been when they grew up or think about all the potential they had.