Grief Counseling

[leannek90]

i work on a busy l+d floor and occasionally we do get mom's who have a fetal demise. i've only been a l+d nurse for 1.5 years, and don't have a ton of experience working with these patients and their families. i was talking to my manager about becoming a certified greif counselor and she thought it was a great idea, since we only have one other nurse with this certification. i really want to become more educated on how to appropriately interact with this population, however, i am having a hard time finding places i can take the classes. the only place i have found online is canyon college, and it seems like an absolute crock. anyone have any ideas for me?

thanks!!

[Jolie, BSN]

Is there a tertiary referral center in your area that might have a grief counseling program? Perhaps you could contact someone there for information on how to become certified.

I once worked at a large hospital in Chicago that had no grief program, so a nurse manager who was working an a Master's Degree originated a program as part of her thesis. That was over 20 years ago, so there is no need to re-invent the wheel, but if you would like her name, I could PM it to you.

[CEG]

There is a seminar on Perinatal Bereavement in Chicago in September. I don't know much about it, just came across some info Maybe it will work for you, here's a link: http://www.perinatalbereavementconference.org/travel.html

[Jolie, BSN]

There is a seminar on Perinatal Bereavement in Chicago in September. I don't know much about it, just came across some info Maybe it will work for you, here's a link: http://www.perinatalbereavementconference.org/travel.html

Thanks for posting the link! The person I referred to in my post is listed as a presentor.

[NHmommy]

If your hospital does not have available grief counselors, at the very least maybe you could give a list of names of grief counselors in your area.

From experience I know first hand talking about the loss immediately doesn't amount to a hill of beans...it takes days, weeks, even months before the fog clears and you can think straight.

You can also pass on the like for www.nationalshareoffice.org . They have meetings in many cities/towns around the nation.

Kudos to you for taking a step forward in something so important.

[elkpark]

Your hospital's chaplaincy and social work departments are also resources that can offer assistance to those clients.

[unikuelady, RN]

I took the RTS beravement course put out by Gunderson hospital. The course is offered in many cities accross the usa. Their is also an online group called Missingangels.com they sponsor fetal/infant beravement confrences in Arizona

[dawngloves, BSN, RN]

Several of us in the NICU and L&D have been to RTS. Highly reccomend it.

http://www.bereavementprograms.com/index.html

[RNfromMS]

I believe the March of Dimes does seminars. This wouldn't necessarily help with becoming certified, but it may be a start. Our hospital has them coming to do a seminar in October (4 hours) that I plan to attend. I don't necessarily want to become a counselor as much as to learn how to care for these patients.

[Burnt Out, ASN, RN]

I would definately look into RTS. I don't work in OB but I am a RTS team member as I have suffered from child loss myself. I would compile a list of grief counselors in your area to have on hand for the parents who suffer the loss of a child as well as on-line organizations and their addresses: the 2 best ones are http://www.missfoundation.org and http://www.nationalshareoffice.com. The MISS Foundation holds an annual conference that is excellent-I am hoping to go next year http://missfoundation.org/events.html.

I am wanting to go back to school where I can become a grief counselor for those who suffer from child loss and infertility. I just can't figure out how to go about it.