16.1 Introduction
Learning Objectives
- Compare and contrast types of grieving in regard to nursing care.
- Discuss the nurse’s role in palliative and hospice care settings.
- Describe common experiences of family members of a dying individual.
- Identify several ways nurses can engage in more effective communication with patients and families.
- Describe some basic communication skills nurses can use to enhance communication.
- Identify several follow-up responses to use with patients.
This section explores experiences at the end of life for both patients and families. While psychiatric facilities are uncommon settings for palliative or hospice care, therapeutic communication skills to support grieving and loss are necessary for all nurses across a variety of settings. This section will explore grief, palliative and hospice care, and nursing care to support patients and families. The focus is on working with the emotions that are common as death is near, with the understanding that physical care, described in other texts, is ongoing.
