ELNEC Undergraduate and New Graduate Module 5: Loss, Grief, and Bereavement

Outline:
Section 1: Introduction

About This Module

Learning Objectives

Section 2: Overview of Loss, Grief, and Bereavement

Important Terminology

Types of Grief

Understanding Check

The Grief Process

Everyone Has a Story

Key Points

Summary

Section 3: The Nurse’s Role in Loss, Grief, and Bereavement

The Nurse’s Role

Grief Assessment

Review

Listen to Their Story

Grief Interventions

CARE: A Framework for Communicating Condolence

Words That Are Helpful

Words That Are Not Helpful

Children’s Grief

Caring for a Bereaved Family After a Child’s Death

Grief Interventions for Children and their Families

Summary

Section 4: The Effects on the Nurse

Healthcare Professionals Grieve Too

Challenges of Nonbeneficial Care

Seeking Help

Strategies to Prevent Compassion Fatigue and Burnout

Wellness and Self-Care

Moral Resilience

Importance of Self-Care

Healthcare System Responsibilities

Systems of Support

Case Study

Review

Summary

Section 5: Conclusion

Module Summary

Course Contributors

Resources

References

The content for this course was written by The ELNEC Project Team.
The ELNEC Project, which began in 2000, is a collaboration between City of Hope, Duarte, CA and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), Washington, DC. For more information about ELNEC, go to www.aacnnursing.org/ELNEC

The content for this course was revised by:
Andra Davis, PhD, MN, RN, Associate Professor and ELNEC Co-Investigator, School of Nursing and Health Innovations, University of Portland.
Dr. Davis has clinical expertise in oncology, palliative and hospice care. As nursing faculty at University of Portland School of Nursing and Health Innovations in Portland, Oregon, she teaches undergraduate, graduate, and Integrative Health and Wellness students.  Her research expertise focuses in two areas: palliative care education and use of evidence-based guidelines in cancer symptom care. She is the co-investigator with the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) focused on supporting schools of nursing to advance palliative care education for undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Davis has a collaborative research partnership developing palliative care outcome measures for use in undergraduate nursing education.  A ‘research hub’ housed at University of Portland was created for educators around the country to access these palliative care education evaluation measures and for ongoing psychometric evaluation of the tools.

Megan Lippe, PhD, MSN, RN, Associate Professor and ELNEC Co-Investigator, School of Nursing, UT Health San Antonio.
Dr. Megan Lippe is an Associate Professor with tenure and palliative care expert. She has been recognized as an emerging national leader for palliative nursing care education with published works in areas related to palliative care education, simulation, interprofessional education, and social justice. She is the co-lead of a research team evaluating implementation and outcomes for the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) Undergraduate Curriculum. Dr. Lippe has been a registered nurse since 2009, and earned her BSN, MSN, and PhD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught at the UT Austin from 2011-2016 and the University of Alabama from 2016-2021. Dr. Lippe joined the faculty at UT Health San Antonio in the fall 2021. In collaboration with colleagues, Dr. Lippe has conducted multiple studies that have resulted in the creation of new quantitative measures to assess primary palliative care curriculum, self-competence, knowledge and competence for nursing students and entry-to-practice nurses. She has developed and tested multiple, high-fidelity, palliative care simulations and has worked as a simulation consultant and specialist.  Dr. Lippe is a 2019 Cambia Sojourns and recipient of the 2017 ELNEC Award and 2019 Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association New Investigator Award.