Loss and grief reactions as responses to surgery.
Using autobiographical material, the patient experience of major surgery (panproctocolectomy and ileostomy) is described. A number of stages are identified in the patient experience: the development of dependence before surgery; disconnectedness from the social world immediately after surgery; and reality shock as grief and loss became apparent. The data are analysed using a theoretical perspective originally developed to describe reactions to bereavement. The practical nursing and counselling implications deriving from the theoretical model are elaborated.
D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D006117:Grief; D006801:Humans; D007081:Ileostomy / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D011184:Postoperative Period