Final answer:
The hospice nurse should acknowledge that grieving is personal and affirm the client's feelings without rushing them. The Kübler-Ross model outlines five stages of grief, with the understanding that people may not experience all stages in order. Hospice care focuses on comfort for those at the end of life.
Step-by-step explanation:
The appropriate response the hospice nurse should make to a client grieving the loss of her partner is: b) Grieving is a personal process, and it's okay to feel the way you do.
Grief is a complex and personal journey, and everyone experiences it differently. The Kübler-Ross model, proposed in 1969, identifies five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Not everyone will experience all five stages, and they may occur in different orders for different people. Moreover, some individuals may find themselves revisiting certain stages multiple times.
Denial often serves as an initial defense mechanism, allowing individuals to numb the reality of loss. A person might simply refuse to acknowledge the death, thinking 'This can't be happening.'
Anger follows as the reality begins to set in. The individual may ask 'Why me?' and feel frustrated and helpless.
Bargaining is a stage where the grieving person may seek to negotiate a delay or change in the inevitable, often with a higher power, reflecting thoughts like 'If only I had been a better person.'
The stage of depression represents the realization of the full extent of the loss, leading to immense sadness and reflection on what has been lost.
Finally, acceptance is not about feeling okay with the loss, but rather acknowledging and understanding it as a permanent reality. The person might reach a state of peace with what has happened.
Hospice care, in this regard, is designed to provide comfort and support to individuals who are at the end of their lives. Rather than focusing on curing an illness, hospice care emphasizes the quality of life and dignified death, often in the familiar settings of their own home, surrounded by loved ones and in control of their end-of-life care.
When assisting someone who's grieving, it's essential to acknowledge their emotions without rushing them through their process. Advising a person to move on quickly, to distract themselves, or to forget about the past is not conducive to healthy grief processing. Instead, validating their feelings and supporting them through their personal journey fosters healing.