As a library, NLM provides access to scientific literature.

Inclusion in an NLM
database does not imply endorsement of, or agreement with, the contents by NLM
or the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more: PMC Disclaimer | PMC Copyright Notice

Nurs Open. 2023 Nov; 10(11): 7233–7243. PMCID: PMC10563403

Published online 2023 Aug 22. doi: 10.1002/nop2.1976 PMID: 37608498

Nurses' bereavement experiences of a deceased colleague due to COVID‐19: A

phenomenological study
Fatemeh Najafi, 1 Leila Mardanian Dehkordi, 2 Sajad Khodayari, 3 Molouk Jaafarpour, 4 and
Alireza Nikbakht Nasrabadi 5

Abstract

Aim

Healthcare workers have little time to mourn due to the intensification of the COVID‐19
pandemic. Although grief is a normal part of life and death, the circumstances surrounding
the death can affect the grieving process. So far, the nurses' experience in mourn for a
deceased colleague in the COVID‐19 pandemic has not been determined. Identifying these
experiences can provide opportunities to formulate appropriate strategies to functionally
adapt to death and promote mental health and well‐being during this crisis. This study aimed
to understand the nurses' experiences in mourning for a deceased colleague due to COVID‐
19.

Design

This was an interpretive phenomenological study.

Method
486116
research-article2013
SGOXXX10.1177/2158244013486116SAGE OpenJonas-Simpson et al.

Article

SAGE Open

Nurses’ Experiences of Grieving When

April-June 2013: 1–11
© The Author(s) 2013
DOI: 10.1177/2158244013486116
There Is a Perinatal Death sgo.sagepub.com

Christine Jonas-Simpson1, F. Beryl Pilkington1, Cynthia

MacDonald2, and Eileen McMahon3

Abstract
Many nurses grieve when patients die; however, nurses’ grief is not often acknowledged or discussed. Also, little attention
is given to preparing nurses for this experience in schools of nursing and in orientations to health care organizations. The
purpose of this research was to explore obstetrical and neonatal nurses’ experiences of grieving when caring for families
who experience loss after perinatal death. A visual arts-informed research method through the medium of digital video was
used, informed by human science nursing, grief concepts, and interpretive phenomenology. Five obstetrical nurses and one
neonatal intensive care nurse who cared for bereaved families voluntarily participated in this study. Nurses shared their
experiences of grieving during in-depth interviews that were professionally audio- and videotaped. Data were analyzed using
an iterative process of analysis-synthesis to identify themes and patterns that were then used to guide the editing of the
documentary. Thematic patterns identified throughout the data were growth and transformation amid the anguish of grief,
professional and personal impact, and giving–receiving meaningful help. The thematic pattern of giving–receiving meaningful
help was made up of three thematic threads: support from colleagues; providing authentic, compassionate, quality care; and
education and mentorship. Nurses’ grief is significant. Nurses who grieve require acknowledgment, support, and education.
Supporting staff through their grief may ultimately have a positive impact on quality of work life and home life for nurses and
quality of care for bereaved families.

Keywords
nursing, behavioral sciences, nurses’ grief, perinatal loss, bereavement care, health professional loss and grieving

The experience of grieving a loss is a significant human
experience (Pilkington, 2006). According to the Report on
Bereavement and Grief Research by the Center for the
Advancement of Health, “Many health care providers expe-
rience grief—sometimes profound grief—when a patient
dies” (Genevro, Marshall, Miller, & Center for the
Advancement of Health, 2004, p. 550). While the literature
confirms that nurses grieve the loss of their patients (Brunelli,
2005; Cutler, 1998; Davies et al., 1996; Gerow et al., 2009;
Wilson & Kirshbaum, 2011), it does not specifically address
how nurses—especially nurses who care for families who
experience perinatal death—integrate this experience into
their nursing practices. Grieving the loss of a patient is most
often researched with respect to nursing practice in oncol-
ogy, palliative care, and critical care (Wilson & Kirshbaum,
2011); however, nurses caring for families who experience
perinatal death and loss may also grieve and thus it is impor-
tant to explore the experience of grief in this context.
Grieving a loss is a universal human experience that has
particular relevance in nursing practice (Saunders & Valente,
1994). Nurses experience losses in different ways according
to Papadatou (2000): bearing witness to the suffering of oth-
ers who are grieving; experiencing grief when a patient, with
whom they have developed a close relationship, dies; and
grieving their own past or anticipated future personal losses,
including the death of self—all of which add to the complex-
ity of the experience of grieving in nursing practice.
Pilkington (2006) conducted a synthesis of five phenomeno-
logical-hermeneutic studies on grieving in which she identi-
fied that, regardless of the context of the loss, human beings
experience turmoil, anguish, and yearning. Through the pro-
cess of grieving a loss, people clarify what is important, what
is not, what endures, and how one chooses to continue living
(Pilkington, 2006). Loss is something that does not go away,
but rather, human beings learn to live with loss in new ways.
The reality that nurses grieve and bear witness to the experi-
ence of others who are grieving has not been sufficiently
1
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2
Halton Healthcare Services, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
3
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Corresponding Author:
Christine Jonas-Simpson, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, York
University, 4700 Keele St., Rm. 321 HNES Bldg., Toronto, Ontario,
Canada M3J 1P3.
Email: jonasimp@yorku.ca