The Ship of Loss on the Ocean of Grief: Understanding the Grief Process

Paper

Wednesday, 19 July 2006

This presentation is part of : End-of-Life Models and Studies

Ramona Browder Lazenby, EdD, Nursing, Auburn University Montgomery School of Nursing, Montgomery, AL, USA

Learning Objective #1: Identify characteristics of each stage of the grieving process.
Learning Objective #2: Use the ocean model of grief to help patients and significant others understand the grieving process.

      A qualitative analysis was conducted to examine how classroom teachers deal with the death of students during the school year. Because the qualitative researcher is focused on understanding the phenomenon from the participant’s perspective, purposive sampling was used. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 teachers in the state of Alabama. Each interview was audiotaped and transcribed. Using Miles and Huberman’s meta-matrix, the researcher first analyzed the data using a within case analysis followed by a cross-case analysis.
      Throughout every interview it was obvious that participants did not truly understand the grief process. Comments such as, “I cannot believe I still cry about this,” “I should be over her death by now,” and “It’s been over a year, but I still cannot believe he is dead” indicated a need for further education about the grief process.
      Prompted by one participant’s analogy of death as a ship with big sails, the researcher developed a metaphorical alternative to help explain the grief process. The use of metaphors in qualitative research helps the researcher expand the interpretive horizon and better integrate findings into a wider experiential array.       The metaphor is based on the five stages of grief identified by Kubler-Ross. Ocean analogies are used to illustrate and illuminate each stage of the grief process while loss or death is likened to a ship with big sails.

See more of End-of-Life Models and Studies
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)