Head injury: impact on the wives.

Wives of head-injured patients often need considerable support because of the myriad of role transitions and role changes they experience. The impact of the head injury on the wife of a survivor is presented in this article. Content analysis was used to analyze data with the themes of role changes, emotional impact of the injury, hope and need for support emerging. Implications for practice and research include need for support groups with nurses as facilitators, the importance of fostering hope, and need for education of health care professionals.