Transcendental Therapeutic Intervention of the Nursing Professional with the Accompanying Family Member in the Bereavement Stage

Abstract

Introduction: The nursing professional creates a close relationship with the bereaved family. If he or she did not use the pertinent competences, he or she would not be able to offer support in the process of sadness and grief of the accompanying family member.
Objective: To describe the transcendental therapeutic intervention of the nursing professional to provide support to the accompanying family member in the bereavement stage in a public hospital.
Methods: Descriptive and qualitative research carried out at Belén Hospital in Lambayeque, Peru, between March and July 2020. The population consisted of twenty nurses from the internal medicine and emergency services. A nonprobabilistic sample was taken, by convenience, of ten nurses, with whom saturation and redundancy were reached. The data were collected through a semistructured interview by Zoom and telephone call, after informed consent. The data were processed using content analysis. Ethical principles and scientific rigor criteria were applied.
Results: Three categories emerged: 1) transcendental therapeutic interventions: farewell, condolences, accompaniment and spiritual support to the accompanying family member in the bereavement stage; 2) influence of therapeutic interventions: acceptance and posttraumatic stress reduction in the face of bereavement; and 3) need for continuous education for a more effective intervention during bereavement.
Conclusions: The interventions carried out by the nursing professional are focused on alleviating the pain and suffering of the accompanying family member in all its dimensions: physical, emotional, social and spiritual. All this helps to reduce posttraumatic stress, as well as it favors acceptance and coping with grief in order to continue on the path of life.