title: Nurses' experiences of caring for the suddenly bereaved in adult acute and critical care settings, and the provision of person-centred care: A qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore nursing interventions for person-centred bereavement care in adult acute and critical care settings.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive exploratory study, involving focused, face-to-face interviews. Participants comprised nine registered nurses and one auxiliary nurse, working in environments where sudden death was known to occur, i.e. emergency, cardiac and critical care. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data subjected to directed content analysis. The provision of person-centred care was examined by applying a validated Person-Centred Nursing Framework.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five main themes were identified. Participants' accounts contained descriptions of bereavement care and the presence of person-centred interventions. Contextual, professional and attitudinal factors influenced the degree to which person-centred care operated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Caring for suddenly bereaved families was important to nurses, but also a source of tension and unrest. An important consideration for person-centred practice is movement away from sudden bereavement as a 'here and now' event, towards a pathway of supportive care that envisions the longer-term. Further research is required to gain a deeper understanding of person-centred care for the suddenly bereaved and the perceived effectiveness of nursing interventions.
authors: University of Wolverhampton, Centre for Health and Social Care Improvement, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, ML116, Deanery Row, Off Molineux Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DT England, United Kingdom. Electronic address: w.m.walker@wlv.ac.uk.
authors: Wendy
authors: W
authors: Walker
authors: University of Wolverhampton, Centre for Health and Social Care Improvement, Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, ML116, Deanery Row, Off Molineux Street, Wolverhampton, WV1 1DT England, United Kingdom. Electronic address: k.deacon@wlv.ac.uk.
authors: Kate
authors: K
authors: Deacon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001293:Attitude to Death; D001601:Bereavement; D003422:Critical Care; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research
keywords: Death; End-of-life; Family; Nurses; Person-centred care; Qualitative research; Sudden bereavement