SCS Grief & Bereavement Support 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient's family member is angry at medical staff following the patient's death, saying, 'They didn't do enough.' The spiritual care specialist should:
- Defend the medical team and explain the clinical decisions made
- Acknowledge the family member's pain and anger without taking sides (Correct answer)
- Redirect the anger by suggesting the family contact patient relations
- Encourage the family to file a formal complaint to resolve their feelings
Correct answer: Acknowledge the family member's pain and anger without taking sides
Validating the emotional experience of anger without aligning with or against the medical team preserves trust and supports the grieving process.
Question 2: The Dual Process Model of coping with bereavement (Stroebe & Schut) identifies two orientations: loss-oriented and:
- Faith-oriented coping
- Restoration-oriented coping (Correct answer)
- Task-oriented coping
- Meaning-oriented coping
Correct answer: Restoration-oriented coping
Stroebe and Schut's Dual Process Model describes healthy grieving as oscillation between loss-oriented coping (grief work) and restoration-oriented coping (attending to life changes).
Question 3: Which indicator is MOST suggestive of complicated grief (prolonged grief disorder) requiring clinical referral?
- Crying daily for the first month after the death
- Dreaming about the deceased six months after the loss
- Functional impairment and intense yearning persisting beyond 12 months (Correct answer)
- Feeling the presence of the deceased in the first year
Correct answer: Functional impairment and intense yearning persisting beyond 12 months
Prolonged grief disorder is characterized by intense yearning and functional impairment lasting beyond 12 months after bereavement, warranting clinical evaluation.
Question 4: A Jewish family asks the spiritual care specialist about sitting shiva. The chaplain's BEST response is:
- Explain that shiva is a seven-day mourning period and offer to support the family through it (Correct answer)
- Decline involvement as this is a rabbi's responsibility
- Provide a generic grief support pamphlet instead
- Ask the family to consult their own religious leader for cultural practices
Correct answer: Explain that shiva is a seven-day mourning period and offer to support the family through it
Cultural and religious competence includes basic knowledge of mourning rituals; the chaplain can support shiva while coordinating with the family's rabbi.
Question 5: When a child asks, 'Where did Grandma go when she died?' the spiritually sensitive response depends FIRST on:
- The chaplain's personal theological convictions about afterlife
- The child's developmental stage and the family's spiritual/religious framework (Correct answer)
- Standard hospital policy on communicating death to minors
- The grief stage the child appears to be in
Correct answer: The child's developmental stage and the family's spiritual/religious framework
Age-appropriate language and alignment with the family's beliefs are the primary guides for discussing death with children in a spiritually sensitive way.
Question 6: A bereaved spouse states she no longer has any reason to live since her husband died. The FIRST action by the spiritual care specialist is:
- Reassure her that the feeling will pass with time
- Immediately refer to pastoral care documentation
- Assess for suicidal ideation and activate safety protocols if indicated (Correct answer)
- Offer prayer as a means to restore her will to live
Correct answer: Assess for suicidal ideation and activate safety protocols if indicated
Statements about having no reason to live require immediate safety assessment; the chaplain must evaluate for suicidal ideation before any other intervention.
Question 7: Which of the following BEST describes 'anticipatory grief'?
- Grief that emerges years after a loss is processed
- Grief experienced in advance of an expected death or loss (Correct answer)
- Grief that is exaggerated beyond cultural norms
- Grief expressed through somatic complaints rather than sadness
Correct answer: Grief experienced in advance of an expected death or loss
Anticipatory grief is the mourning that occurs before an expected death, such as during a terminal illness, and involves the same emotional processes as post-death grief.
SCS Grief & Bereavement Support 3
A patient's family member is angry at medical staff following the patient's death, saying, 'They didn't do enough.' The spiritual care specialist should: