Nurses’ lived experiences of the death of their significant others in their workplace

Nurses encounter death not only as an integral part of their routine professional responsibilities but, at times, in a far more painful and personal manner through the death of their significant others within the workplace. Such an experience is not merely a clinical event; rather, it is a lived, profoundly existential phenomenon. Understanding the meaning of this phenomenon is essential for developing targeted support mechanisms and improving organizational responsiveness to bereaved nurses. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to explore the meaning of nurses’ lived experiences of the death of significant others in their lives that occurred in their workplace. This qualitative study employed an interpretive phenomenological approach. Nurses who had experienced the death of at least one significant others in their workplace participated in the study. Participants were selected through purposive sampling, and those willing to articulate their lived experiences were invited to take part. Data was generated through in-depth, interactive, semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed using Van Manen’s interpretive phenomenological approach. Analysis of interviews with 12 participants (four men and eight women) led to the generation of four main themes and nine subthemes: Endless Suffering (Recurring memories and Immersion in Compounded Grief), Painful Endurance (Pretending to be Fine, Suppressing emotions, Enduring and Carrying On), Failure to Change Fate (Regret and Futile Efforts), and Empathetic Transformation (Identification with Others and Upgrading Sympathy). The findings indicated that the suffering resulting from the loss of significant others in the workplace was experienced as unending by nurses. Emotions such as regret and futile efforts appeared to lead them toward painful endurance and, ultimately, an empathetic transformation.