Social aspects of bereavement

Abstract

The death of a family member is one of the most stressful and disruptive life events and, at some point in their career, all cancer nurses will come into contact with friends and relatives of a cancer patient who has died. This article aims to make nurses aware of the ‘new’ approach to understanding bereavement, one which challenges standard theories of how to deal with loss, and one which is still being overlooked in much of today’s nursing education.