Question

A nurse in an assisted living facility is assisting in the care of an older adult client who moved in 3 months ago following the death of his partner. The client reports awakening in the morning and admits to feeling very sad. The nurse should identify that the client is experiencing which of the following types of grief?

a) Anticipatory grief
b) Complicated grief
c) Normal grief
d) Disenfranchised grief

Answer 1

The client is experiencing normal grief, which includes reactions to the loss of a loved one and can manifest through feelings of sadness, among other emotions. This type of grief aligns with the stages described by Elisabeth Küblber-Ross, although not everyone will experience all stages in a predefined order.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse should identify that the client is experiencing normal grief. This type is characterized by the emotional reactions of loss following the death of a loved one. The client's awakening in the morning with feelings of sadness three months after the death of his partner is a typical expression of normal grief.

Normal grief includes a range of emotional responses as outlined by Dr. Elisabeth Küblber-Ross's five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It's important to note that these stages are not necessarily experienced in a linear fashion and not everyone will experience all stages. In the scenario described, the individual's sadness could be related to the depression stage of grief, indicative of a normal grieving process rather than the prolonged grieving process associated with complicated grief, the pre-loss grieving found in anticipatory grief, or the marginalized grief seen in disenfranchised grief.