MH | Grief and Loss

About this episode

This episode explores the core concepts of grief and loss, detailing the grieving process and major frameworks used to understand it.

Core Concepts of Loss and Grieving Grief is the subjective emotional response to loss, while grieving (bereavement) is the process of experiencing it, and mourning is the outward, culturally defined expression. Losses fundamentally disrupt Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, threatening physiological integrity, safety, security, self-esteem, and self-actualization. The grieving process is highly dynamic and unique to each individual; it is never an orderly progression. Major Frameworks of Grieving Nurses utilize several key theories to understand the grief process: Kübler-Ross: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Bowlby: Numbness, emotional yearning, cognitive disorganization, and reorganization. Engel: Shock/disbelief, developing awareness, restitution, resolution, and recovery. Horowitz: Outcry, denial/intrusion, working through, and completion. The Five Dimensions of Grieving Effective nursing requires a holistic assessment of five human responses: Cognitive: Disruption of beliefs, questioning the loss to make sense of it, and carrying on internal dialogues to keep the lost one present. Emotional: Predominantly anger, sadness, anxiety, guilt, despair, and…

People in this episode

Host: Regular Guy

Topics covered

• grief
• loss
• grieving process
• nursing
• emotional response

Keywords

• grief
• loss
• grieving
• nursing
• Kübler-Ross
• Bowlby
• Engel
• Horowitz
• emotional response
• bereavement

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