Mothers' grief following the death of a child

Aim of the study. Research has shown that caring for a dying child is among the hardest and more demanding tasks in nursing, because the staff are for ced to manage their heavy work with inadequate skills and experience. This article deals with the findings of a recent study, the purpose of which was to analyse the mother's grief and coping with grief following the death of a child under the age of 7 years. Design. Data were collected from mothers using a survey (n=91) and an inter view (n=50). As the topic was very sensitive ethically and emotionally, sur vey data were collected first and the mothers were asked to give their cons ent to taking part in an interview. The study employed both quantitative an d qualitative methods. The data were analysed using statistical methods and content analysis. However, only the qualitative part of the study is prese nted in this article. Findings. The findings show that nursing staff had skills to support grievi ng mothers, but that there were many feelings and experiences of grief that remained unidentified by staff. The staff's ability to meet the mothers' i ndividual needs while the child was in hospital and after the child's death was inadequate. The information received from staff was perceived to be in sufficient or offensive to mothers. Conclusions. The development of basic and further education and of various support measures would enable the staff to better cope with their work. Foc using on interactive skills and meeting the patient's individual needs usin g reflective practice would improve the quality of care. Communication and collaboration between different occupational groups should be promoted, bec ause mothers were dissatisfied with dissemination of information, and ambig uous responsibilities between different occupational groups hampered the ac quisition of information.