Experiences of Nurses Who Support Parents During Perinatal Death.

Objective: To describe the experience of nurses who support parents during perinatal death, particularly how perinatal death influences the nurse, how the nurse feels when caring for a suffering parent, and how the perinatal death contributes to the nurse's understanding of self.
Design: Descriptive qualitative.
Setting: Four regions of Quebec, Canada.
Participants: Twenty-five nurses from different perinatal clinical and community backgrounds who worked with parents who experienced perinatal death.
Methods: We conducted individual, semistructured interviews during which the participants were given the opportunity to describe what they felt and experienced when they supported parents who experienced perinatal death.
Results: Analysis of the data showed three main themes related to the nurse's experience of perinatal death: Unrealistic Self-Expectations, Self-Denial, and Negative Self-Awareness.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that during perinatal death, nurses want to feel useful and to relieve the suffering of parents. A clear understanding of this experience can help nurses to better understand their own experiences.
Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest The authors report no conflicts of interest or relevant financial relationships.
(Copyright © 2021 AWHONN, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)