Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

The grieving process is a subjective emotional path of variable duration and the nurse may need a long time to recover from the loss of a patient or, on the contrary, may not be able to overcome this situation, thus experiencing a pathological dysfunctional mourning.
Hence the idea, after having carried out an internship in the Hospice/Medical Oncology departments at the Az. Università Ospedale Policlinico of Modena, to conduct a qualitative research through a non-validated structured questionnaire – comprising 15 questions (closed/open/tables). 
With the consent of the Nursing Coordinator 20 questionnaires were delivered throughout March-April 2014 with the purpose of understanding if the suffering experienced by nurses has an impact on their relationships, profession and health and whether or not this affects the service dispensed to patients.
The data obtained from the responses showed that the professionals are not adequately prepared on the subject of mourning and, If they could access to significant sources of support, they would ask for a continuous and up to date training about the theme of death, the support of a psychotherapist, a support group providing counseling and debriefing meetings with colleagues: all these actions are effective prevention of the onset of symptoms such as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced professional accomplishment, which in time may lead to the Burnout syndrome. 
Finally I analyzed the coping strategies adopted in these departments to then make a comparison between them and what is highlighted by scientific literature, through consultation of more databases, in order to verify if there is a real match.