Good Grief!

I read an article about how oncology nurses deal with the grief of watching their patients suffer and then die. This particular hospital has a grief counselor center representative come to the hospital once a month to hold a meeting during the nurses' lunch time and talk to them about healthy ways to grieve and how to leave work at work. The struggle with this is that many times the nurses cannot go to the meeting because they are busy helping their patient or if they do attend then their phone keeps ringing with doctors or patients' family members asking for information or giving instructions. The nurses have different ways of dealing with their grief. "The Good Grief Center, leaving work at work, talking amongst ourselves -all these things lighten the burden of sadness. But ultimately what helps me the most is remembering why I come to work at all." Every nurses has to find what works for her when it comes to mourning patients. Some nurses so to the funerals or visitations of their patients, others have a moment of silence for them and move on to help the next patient.  Nurses deal with these emotions during work everyday. "Dealing with work at work needs to happen, too, and as nurses we confront death, and our own grief, in specific ways. We make crass, unrepeatable jokes that people not in the know can find shocking. It’s a defense mechanism, and we recognize the humor for the release it is. Sometimes we cry and get angry, swear loudly, drink too much when we get home, and tease each other mercilessly on the floor." These nurses have a very tough job and often think about how easier to would be to switch to career that did not deal with pain and dying everyday but in the end they all love what they do and they love the patients that they are so fortunate to spend time with.