Phillips Carolyn S, Trainum Katie, Thomas Hebdon Megan C
School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
College of Nursing, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA.
Health Serv Insights. 2025 Jun 16;18:11786329251344772. doi: 10.1177/11786329251344772. eCollection 2025.
Healthcare workers frequently experience emotional distress from repeated exposure to patient death, yet professional grief remains poorly recognized and inadequately supported. The COVID-19 pandemic further magnified these challenges, bringing professional grief into sharper focus. The purpose of this scoping review was to comprehensively examine professional grief among healthcare workers (HCWs) across different professions and specialties, map existing literature, identify research gaps, and provide educational, clinical, and policy recommendations. This scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO for literature from 2004 to 2024. Studies were screened based on inclusion criteria focusing on professional grief experiences of HCWs dealing with patient deaths. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies were included. Eighty-one publications were reviewed, with most studies published since 2020, highlighting increased attention post-COVID-19. Key findings identified significant individual (eg, early career vulnerability, lack of formal education), interpersonal (eg, patient demographics, relationship quality), and systemic factors (eg, emotional suppression culture, workload constraints) influencing professional grief. Existing interventions were predominantly peer-based and lacked demonstrated efficacy in reducing grief intensity. Measurement inconsistencies revealed discrepancies between qualitative and quantitative assessments of grief intensity, indicating a need for specialized measurement tools tailored to professional contexts. Professional grief among HCWs is multifaceted and deeply influenced by cultural, educational, and systemic barriers. Comprehensive strategies addressing these barriers must include structured educational curricula, ongoing clinical support programs, validated grief measurement tools, and institutional policies promoting open emotional expression. These approaches are essential to fostering resilience, enhancing professional well-being, and improving patient care outcomes.
医护人员经常因反复接触患者死亡而经历情绪困扰，但职业性悲伤仍未得到充分认识和支持。新冠疫情进一步加剧了这些挑战，使职业性悲伤成为更受关注的焦点。本范围综述的目的是全面审视不同职业和专业的医护人员中的职业性悲伤，梳理现有文献，找出研究空白，并提供教育、临床和政策建议。本范围综述遵循了阿克西和奥马利的方法框架以及PRISMA-ScR指南。检索的数据库包括PubMed、CINAHL和PsycINFO，检索2004年至2024年的文献。根据纳入标准筛选研究，纳入标准聚焦于处理患者死亡的医护人员的职业性悲伤经历。纳入了定性、定量和混合方法研究。共审查了81篇出版物，大多数研究自2020年以来发表，突出了新冠疫情后关注度的增加。主要发现确定了影响职业性悲伤的重要个体因素（如职业生涯早期的脆弱性、缺乏正规教育）、人际因素（如患者人口统计学特征、关系质量）和系统因素（如情绪抑制文化、工作量限制）。现有的干预措施主要基于同伴支持，在降低悲伤强度方面缺乏已证实的效果。测量不一致揭示了悲伤强度定性和定量评估之间的差异，表明需要针对职业背景定制专门的测量工具。医护人员中的职业性悲伤是多方面的，深受文化、教育和系统障碍的影响。应对这些障碍的综合策略必须包括结构化的教育课程、持续的临床支持项目、经过验证的悲伤测量工具以及促进开放情绪表达的机构政策。这些方法对于培养复原力、提高职业幸福感和改善患者护理结果至关重要。
