ELNEC Critical Care Module 7: Loss, Grief, and Bereavement

Course overview

Welcome to the Loss, Grief, and Bereavement course for the ELNEC Critical Care Curriculum. There is a tremendous amount of loss in caring for patients in critical care settings who may have experienced cardiac bypass surgery, trauma-related accidents, burns from fires, drug overdoses, or attempted suicide. Grief and loss accumulate over time and may cause moral injury, compassion fatigue, and burnout if unacknowledged. This course will assist you in supporting yourself, your colleagues, and your patients. It will also assist you in providing excellent bereavement care after a patient has died. Finally, it will discuss good professional self-care to allow you to continue this sacred work in a healthy manner. Although this content is applicable to nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other professionals may also find the content useful. The goal of this course is to provide nurses working in critical care with knowledge of grief and bereavement.