The Grief Experiences of Certified Nursing Assistants: Personal Growth and Complicated Grief

The grief that certified nursing assistants (CNAs) experience following the deaths of nursing home residents has received scant attention in past research, particularly from an empirical standpoint. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the grief experiences of CNAs in the nursing home setting and to identify and evaluate factors that may mediate or exacerbate grief. Participants (N=136) from 12 nursing homes completed self-administered surveys. Regression analyses revealed that CNAs with lower levels of perceived disenfranchised grief reported higher levels of personal growth, while CNAs with greater fear of death and those who experienced fewer deaths on the job reported higher levels of complicated grief. Practitioners and future researchers may benefit from these findings through the construction and implementation of interventions aimed at effectively enfranchising the grief experiences of this important group of healthcare workers.