Cries from the morgue

Life after death: grief therapy after the sudden traumatic death of a family member

TOPIC

Survivors of the sudden traumatic death of a family member are at increased risk for complicated grief and bereavement.

PURPOSES

To present the complicating factors inherent to sudden traumatic death in order to promote adaptive grieving in the survivors.

SOURCES

A comprehensive review of the existing bereavement literature, clinical anecdotes, and therapeutic experiences.

CONCLUSIONS

Grief is a process and not an endpoint. The goal of grief is not to forget about the loss, a commonly stated goal of survivors; rather, the goal is to remember the decedent, understand the changes created by the loss, and determine how to reinvest in life.

Patterns of knowing as a method of assessment and intervention for children exposed to family-member homicide

The patterns of knowing identified by Carper in 1978, specifically empirics, aesthetics, ethics, and personal knowing, continue to be applied to the expanding role of nursing. Sociopolitical knowing and unknowing add important dimensions, as well. Knowing is an individual process and a metamorphosis of interplay among theory, research, and practice. These patterns of knowing are inherently applicable to any specialty within the profession of nursing. As nursing specialties such as forensic nursing emerge, the patterns of knowing can provide a foundational approach to comprehensive assessment and intervention for victims of interpersonal violence. As an example, forensic nurses confronted with children who have witnessed family-member homicide can use all of the patterns of knowing for comprehensive nursing assessment and intervention.