Back to Work: Manager Support of Nurses With Chronic Sorrow.

Death: No one likes to think about it, never mind talk about it. The purpose of this article is to show the importance of the role of the nurse manager in supporting nurses who are returning to the bedside after a significant loss. Significant personal loss may lead to a phenomenon called chronic sorrow. Bereaved nurses with chronic sorrow experience grief-related feelings as a result of caring for patients who are suffering and dying. Qualified nurses may leave bedside nursing for nonclinical roles, or leave the profession altogether, because of constant exposure to this stress. It is critical that nursing management is perceptive to the particular needs of bereaved nurses to best reintegrate them into their nursing positions.