Loss without death: a dilemma for the head-injured patient's family.

Family members of a person suffering head injury are confronted with permanent alterations in the person they love. The change in the individual is experienced as a loss which must be grieved. This grieving process can be difficult since the presence of the head injury survivor serves as a constant reminder to the family of what they have lost. With an understanding of the concept of loss without death, nurses caring for the families of head-injured individuals may be better equipped to assist them through this difficult process.