Bereavement Program for the Perinatal Loss Patient and Family

Background:

Nurses in maternal-child nursing practice are periodically faced with the challenging situation of providing care for patients’ experiencing perinatal loss. Unfortunately, the preparation nurses receive in their basic academic programs may be limited or non-existent on the topic of effectively caring for patients and family members experiencing perinatal loss. Additionally, due to the infrequent exposure to perinatal losses, staff nurses may perceive that they are not adequately prepared to effectively provide care during such potentially sensitive and emotionally charged situations. Therefore, a standardized bereavement training program was implemented in this study to prepare staff nurses to provide effective care to patients and family members during perinatal loss. 

Purpose Statement:

To examine the impact of a standardized bereavement training program on the staff nurse’s perception of their ability to provide effective care for patients experiencing perinatal loss.

Methods:

Participants for this quasi-experimental investigation were staff nurses at a Southern Midwestern women’s health hospital. Staff nurses completed a survey prior to receiving the bereavement training, and following the intervention the same survey was given to participants to complete.  The 17 item survey was developed by the investigator and was comprised of two different sections. The initial 9 items focused on nurse’s perceptions of knowledge related to perinatal loss. The second section included 8 items, which focused on the staff nurses perceptions of their ability to provide care to patients and family members experiencing a perinatal loss.

Results:

Data collection is currently in progress, with 18 staff nurses having completed bereavement training, as well as the pre and post-test surveys.

Conclusion:

By identifying the staff nurses perceptions of the bereavement program for patient and family members experiencing a perinatal loss, it is hoped that this will increase the nursing staff’s confidence and competence. Additionally, the long-term goals include improved patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.