Factors Contributing to Grief Experience Among Oncology Nurses: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVES

Care provision to patients with cancer can cause varying levels of grief for oncology nurses. Grief in turn significantly affects nurses' personal and professional life. However, there is limited information about the contributing factors to grief experience among oncology nurses. The aim of this study was to explore the contributing factors to grief experience among oncology nurses.

DATA SOURCES

This qualitative study was conducted in Iran from May 2020 to October 2021. Participants were 18 oncology nurses purposively selected from several hospitals in Iran. Data were gathered via in-depth semistructured interviews and analyzed via the conventional content analysis method proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. Lincoln and Guba's criteria were used to ensure trustworthiness.

CONCLUSION

The four categories of the contributing factors to oncology nurses' grief experience were exposure to patients' painful death, depressing work atmosphere, knowing the heavy financial burden of cancer for patients, and patients' helplessness in the healthcare system. Oncology nurses experience deep grief due to a wide range of personal, professional, environmental, and sociocultural factors.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

The findings of this study can be used to better understand the contributing factors to grief experience among oncology nurses, determine their needs, and develop strategies to strongly support them.

Psychometric Properties of Grief Traits and State Scale for Nurses to Measure Levels of Grief

Frequent exposure to patient deaths prompts nurses to experience grief. Unresolved grief leads to harmful consequences of nurses' mental health and quality of nursing care. A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted to determine the psychometric properties of the Grief traits and State Scale for Nurses. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors measuring the level of nurses' grief traits (Cronbach's alpha: 0.84) and two factors in grief state (Cronbach's alpha: 0.86). Nurses' feelings of unable to provide good care were associated with a higher risk of grief (odds ratio (OR): 4.30, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.45-12.75), uncomfortable feeling toward deaths (OR: 11.29, 95%CI: 1.48-85.91), and emotional exhaustion (OR: 7.12, 95%CI: 1.63-30.99). Results indicated that the scale was reliable in determining the levels of their grief. Nurse managers can use the scale to identify their nurses' levels of grief, creating opportunities to influence the resolution of the grief experiences.