The Meaning of the Experience of Caring for a Family whose Baby is Born Still or Dies Shortly after Birth for Nurses

The Meaning of the Experience of Caring for a Family Whose Baby is Born Still or Dies Shortly after Birth for Nurses

Nursing care provided to families when a baby dies is not only significant to the family’s experience of loss, grief and bereavement but also to the nurse’s health, personal and work-life experience. A qualitative descriptive design was used to answer the research question, What is the meaning of the experience of caring for families whose babies are born still or die shortly after birth for nurses? Using extraction synthesis processes to analyze the data, four themes emerged from the descriptions and stories from the nine nurse participants. The first theme, arduous valued privilege surfacing with cautious courage, captures the notion that caring for families whose baby dies is difficult but also a cherished privilege. The second theme, desires for understanding and fortifying respite, reflects nurses’ wishes for understanding from colleagues who listen, as they do not often find this same understanding with family or friends. Creating comforting connections amid shifting waves of the unbearable-bearable describes how nurses connect with the bereaved families and how they facilitate a connection between the family and the baby through creative means. Picturing living with loss while offering anticipatory guidance, the fourth theme, emerged as the nurses described how they pictured and wondered how the mother would live with the loss of her baby. The findings provide enhanced understanding of nurses’ experiences, which acknowledges their experiences and provides healthcare leaders with opportunities to enhance quality of work-life and women’s health, which may ultimately enhance the nursing care of the families experiencing deep loss.