A nurse has been working full time with terminally ill patients for 3 years. He has been experiencing irritability and mixed emotions since four of his patients died on the same day. To optimize the quality of his nursing care, he should examine his own

• A. Full-time work schedule.
• B. Past feelings toward death.
• C. Patterns for dealing with grief.
• D. Demands for involvement in patient care.

Answer: (C)

Managing grief is essential for maintaining compassionate and competent care. When multiple patient losses happen, an clinician’s emotional response—irritability, mixed feelings, detachment—can affect judgment and bedside manner. Examining how you typically cope with grief helps you identify whether your strategies are healthy and sustainable or whether they’re leading to burnout or impaired empathy.

This option focuses on current, personal processes for handling loss, including reactions, coping mechanisms, support systems, and times to reflect or seek help. By understanding these patterns, you can strengthen emotional regulation, maintain presence with patients, and seek appropriate support (debriefing, supervision, peer support) as needed.

Other choices address external factors or historical attitudes rather than the ongoing way the individual processes grief. Altering a work schedule or workload might help indirectly, but it doesn’t target the emotional coping that directly influences care quality. Past feelings toward death can color current responses but don’t center on current coping patterns. Involvement demands pertain to duties and expectations rather than the nurse’s internal processing of loss.