Maya Shaha

Working Through Grief and Loss: Oncology Nurses' Perspectives on Professional Bereavement

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine facilitators and barriers to managing patient loss from the combined perspectives of oncology nurses and to extract essential components of a supportive intervention. RESEARCH APPROACH Qualitative, descriptive. SETTING The comprehensive National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center of a mid-Atlantic university teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS 34 nurses from inpatient and outpatient adult and pediatric oncology units. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH Focus groups were held with oncology staff nurses to identify challenges regarding work-related bereavement, current support for managing grief and loss, and how to support interpersonal functioning and resiliency. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Work-related bereavement, bereavement support, and interventions and management strategies for bereavement and loss. FINDINGS Two primary themes emerged: dimensions of work-related loss and working through bereavement. Participants also provided many concrete suggestions for the creation of a supportive self-care environment. CONCLUSIONS Support issues were numerous, multilevel, and varied. However, addressing those concerns can improve job satisfaction and decrease compassion fatigue. The findings lay the foundation for appropriate interventions to assist nurses in managing those situations. INTERPRETATION Administrators, managers, and individuals interested in furthering the multifaceted goals of oncology care, including nurses themselves, are challenged to create and maintain mutually supportive environments for providing optimal care to patients and families.

Der Beitrag der Onkologiepflege zur Swiss Research Agenda for Nursing – SRAN

Krebs gilt weltweit als zweithaufigste Todesursache bei Erwachsenen und Kindern. Eine Krebsdiagnose bedeutet den Beginn einer sich oft uber mehrere Monate und Jahre erstreckenden Behandlung, die of...

Analyse teamspezifischer Belastungssituationen und Entwicklung angepasster Interventionen: ein Aktionsforschungsprojekt mit Pflegenden

Das Forschungs- und Dienstleistungszentrum der Hochschule fur Gesundheit in Freiburg (CH) entwickelte in Zusammenarbeit mit einem Bezirksspital des Kantons ein Projekt, das sich mit der Belastung v...

L’acceptabilité de l’intervention Revie ⊕ : perception et vécu des infirmières

Persons with advanced cancer experience high levels of existential distress due to being confronted with their mortality, which leads to feelings of lack of sense, or discouragement. It is important to develop interventions to relieve existential distress to promote the dignity of persons with advanced cancer in order to help them live this difficult experience in the best possible way. A new intervention, called Revie ⊕ and conducted by nurses, was developed. A feasibility study was conducted with 41 patients with advanced cancer in the ambulatory and hospital sector of a university hospital in Switzerland to determine the acceptability of Revie ⊕. The purpose of this article is to present the intervention’s acceptability from the perspective of the nurses. Nurses conducting the intervention were asked to complete a questionnaire, maintain personal notes, and to participate in one focus group. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the questionnaire. Thematic analysis was applied to analyze the nurses’ personal notes and focus group data. Results indicate that nurses consider Revie ⊕ to be a beneficial intervention for the patients and also for their professional posture. As a consequence, the nurses wish for its implementation into practice. Recommendations are proposed to promote further implementation.

Revie ⊕: the influence of a life review intervention including a positive, patient-centered approach towards enhancing the personal dignity of patients with advanced cancer—a study protocol for a feasibility study using a mixed method investigation

BackgroundIt is generally recognized that existential concerns must be addressed to promote the dignity of patients with advanced cancer. A number of interventions have been developed in this regard, such as dignity therapy and other life review interventions (LRI). However, so far, none have focused on a positive approach or evaluated its effects on dignity and personal growth. This study aims to explore the feasibility of Revie ⊕, a life review intervention comprising a positive, patient-centered approach, and to determine potential changes of patients’ sense of dignity, posttraumatic growth, and satisfaction with life.MethodsA mixed method study will be performed, which includes specialized nurses and 40 patients with advanced cancer in an ambulatory and in-patient setting of a Swiss university hospital. Quantitative methods involve a single group, pre- and post-intervention, and outcome measurements include the Patient Dignity Inventory, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Feasibility data relating to process, resource, and scientific elements of the trial will also be collected. A semi-directed interview will be used to collect qualitative data about the process and the participants’ experiences of the intervention. In this way, enhanced quantitative-qualitative evidence can be drawn from outcome measures as well as individual, contextualized personal views, to help inform researchers about the plausibility of this complex intervention before testing its effectiveness in a subsequent full trial.DiscussionPatient dignity is a goal of quality end-of-life care. To our knowledge, this is the first trial to evaluate the role of a life review intervention that is focused on personal growth and on changes relating to the experience of having cancer.This study will evaluate the feasibility of a novel intervention, Revie ⊕, which we hope will contribute to promote the dignity, personal growth, and overall life satisfaction of patients with advanced cancer.Trial registrationISRCTN, ISRCTN12497093