Abstract
Coping with death is an individualized experience. Every individual must find their own effective coping strategies. Americans commonly use religion as a mechanism of coping. Religion helps people find meaning and comfort in death. Nurses must assess the coping of patients and help them find effective ways to deal with death. Student nurses are very unprepared for death in their chosen profession, and must understand their own beliefs about dying before they can help others cope. Caregivers are at most risk of ineffective coping due to their constant proximity to the dying person. In order to provide effective care nurses and other caregivers must have effective coping mechanisms in place. Keywords: coping, student nurse, religious …show more content…
Some coping techniques work great for one individual, but could just make things worse for another individual. Every person must find their own effective coping mechanisms. Nurses can assist the patient, their family, and other caregivers to find effective coping tools.
Death is a topic that no one wishes to speak about, or deal with. Dealing with the death of another person brings one’s own feelings toward the mystery of death to the surface and forces them to think about it. Much literature bases effective coping off of the five stages that a person experiences in the process of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
In America religion is a major coping mechanism used by the majority of the population. Religion can be defined as, “the service and worship of God, other deities or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance” (Richardson. 2014). Religion or spirituality is often used to help support and exert some control. Theories about religion suggest that meaning and comfort was found in religious coping (Richardson. 2014). Positive religious coping consists of using their religious beliefs to understand and finding meaning in illness and to have greater psychosocial adaptation to stressors (Richardson. 2014). Some individuals have negative religious coping where they view their illness as punishment or divine retribution …show more content…
Seeking God 's help to let go of anger and having faith in God’s love and care (Richardson. 2014). Religion helps patients accept their diagnosis and no longer deny the illness or impending death (Richardson. 2014). Negative religious coping includes trying to bargain with God. Feeling of abandonment by God, or feeling God is punishing them (Richardson. 2014). Religious coping is assessed through the use of the RCOPE tool.
As a nurse it is important to assess a patient 's faith and beliefs in order to provide supportive care. One way to do this is to use an assessment tool such as FICA or SPIRIT spiritual assessment. These sort of open ended questionnaires “can serve as a framework within which to open conversations about spiritual matters (Richardson. 2014). According to Richardson “most studies suggest that patients wish to have their spiritual concerns addressed” (Richardson.
Coping with death is an individualized experience. Every individual must find their own effective coping strategies. Americans commonly use religion as a mechanism of coping. Religion helps people find meaning and comfort in death. Nurses must assess the coping of patients and help them find effective ways to deal with death. Student nurses are very unprepared for death in their chosen profession, and must understand their own beliefs about dying before they can help others cope. Caregivers are at most risk of ineffective coping due to their constant proximity to the dying person. In order to provide effective care nurses and other caregivers must have effective coping mechanisms in place. Keywords: coping, student nurse, religious …show more content…
Some coping techniques work great for one individual, but could just make things worse for another individual. Every person must find their own effective coping mechanisms. Nurses can assist the patient, their family, and other caregivers to find effective coping tools.
Death is a topic that no one wishes to speak about, or deal with. Dealing with the death of another person brings one’s own feelings toward the mystery of death to the surface and forces them to think about it. Much literature bases effective coping off of the five stages that a person experiences in the process of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
In America religion is a major coping mechanism used by the majority of the population. Religion can be defined as, “the service and worship of God, other deities or the supernatural; commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance” (Richardson. 2014). Religion or spirituality is often used to help support and exert some control. Theories about religion suggest that meaning and comfort was found in religious coping (Richardson. 2014). Positive religious coping consists of using their religious beliefs to understand and finding meaning in illness and to have greater psychosocial adaptation to stressors (Richardson. 2014). Some individuals have negative religious coping where they view their illness as punishment or divine retribution …show more content…
Seeking God 's help to let go of anger and having faith in God’s love and care (Richardson. 2014). Religion helps patients accept their diagnosis and no longer deny the illness or impending death (Richardson. 2014). Negative religious coping includes trying to bargain with God. Feeling of abandonment by God, or feeling God is punishing them (Richardson. 2014). Religious coping is assessed through the use of the RCOPE tool.
As a nurse it is important to assess a patient 's faith and beliefs in order to provide supportive care. One way to do this is to use an assessment tool such as FICA or SPIRIT spiritual assessment. These sort of open ended questionnaires “can serve as a framework within which to open conversations about spiritual matters (Richardson. 2014). According to Richardson “most studies suggest that patients wish to have their spiritual concerns addressed” (Richardson.