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.