NUR129 - Understanding and Supporting Grieving Children

Course overview

In today’s world, children face a myriad of loss and grief issues, ranging from death and illness to natural disasters and school shootings. Often healthcare professionals feel ill equipped to work with young people with these challenging experiences - what to do; what to say; how to help. The death of a family member, friend, or other significant person is a lifelong loss for children. It is normal for a child to miss the person who has died and to experience grief that waxes and wanes with different levels of intensity for some period of time after the death. Grief reactions in children and adolescents are wide ranging, varied, and unique to each individual. This course will help guide the audience in providing some suggestions on how to be compassionate, understanding, and helpful to children living with grief based on the evidence-based research and clinical practice among professional experts in this special area.