Utilizing grief counseling principles to assist a woman whose husband died of AIDS

This case study report utilized the grief counseling principles proposed by Worden to elucidate the grief responses of a woman whose husband died of AIDS. It also described the nursing care provided by staff nurses to assist the woman to get through the period of grief by achieving "the four goals of grief". Fifteen in-depth interviews were performed and field notes were collected. As the study reports, the grief responses of the wife were: affective expressions, including grief, anger, guilt, self blame, anxiety, loneliness, fatigue, helplessness, and shock; physical expressions, including insomnia, palpitations, and chest tightness; cognitive expressions, including disbelief, confusion, a sense that the loved one is still alive; and behavioral expressions, including insomnia, poor appetite, social withdrawal, avoidance of mentioning the deceased, searching, sighing and sobbing. After her husband had been deceased for six months, the wife completed the phases of 1) acceptance of loss, 2) experiencing grief and pain, 3) adapting to a new environment without the deceased, and 4) redirecting the positive feelings towards the deceased in building a brighter future. This case report will help clinical nurses to understand how to assist families with HIV/AIDS through proper grief counseling, and thus how to guide them through grief.