Date of Award

Summer 1978

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Nursing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify behavioral aspects of the grieving process in myocardial infarction patients. Grief is the response of emotional pain and its physiological accompaniments to loss or deprivation. The loss precipitating grief may be of a part or a function of the body, such as an amputation, loss of vision, or a serious illness. Hospitalized patients commonly experience losses that initiate the grieving process. Grief is so universal a phenomenon among human beings that it is often taken for granted. Physicians and nurses may fail to recognize the signs of grief because their attention is directed toward the obvious illness. Two patients with confirmed diagnoses of myocardial infarction were studied for the entire duration of their hospitalization. The conceptual framework used to study the grieving process was based on seven identified stages of the grieving process described by Kavanaugh. Data was collected by nursing personnel providing care for the patients in the hospital setting, using a checklist developed by the investigator for this study. Both patient participants demonstrated behavior characteristic of each of the seven stages of the grieving process during their hospital stay. On the basis of the findings of the study it is recommended that the study be replicated, using a larger sample size. The investigator endeavored to expand the understanding of grief as a causative factor of the psychological disequilibrium exhibited by myocardial infarction patients, and to offer insight to nursing personnel providing care for this unique patient population.

Download

Share

COinS

Restricted Access Item

Having trouble?