An evidence-based approach for supporting parents experiencing chronic sorrow

Abstract

Chronic sorrow is defined as a normal grief response associated with an ongoing living loss that is permanent, progressive, recurring, and cyclic in nature. If a parent experiencing chronic sorrow has a support system that is inadequate or does not receive appropriate intervention for ineffective coping, it is possible that chronic sorrow can become a pathological grief state similar to depression. Nurses must recognize that chronic sorrow is a normal grief response associated with a living loss, learn to appropriately assess chronic sorrow in parents of chronically ill children, and develop ways to support parents experiencing chronic sorrow by applying evidence-based strategies to facilitate effective coping.