Meanings of perinatal loss: a thematic analysis of health workers' experiences

BACKGROUND: This paper, based on a broader research, has as object the study of the impact of perinatal loss on health workers and aims to explore the most common experiences lived in the hospital setting as a result of that event. Perinatal loss, as well as having a strong impact on the lives of parents, is an event that has a strong influence on emotions and well-being of the health staff who are dealing with. We proposed to reflect on the meanings that health workers attribute to perinatal loss and how they narrate this experience. METHODS: For this purpose we analyzed the transcripts of answers to four open-ended questions from 162 health workers on the theme of death; among them there were physicians, nurses, midwives and health care operators from 9 Piedmont hospitals. RESULTS: The qualitative analysis carried out has led to the grouping of 18 semantic categories. The narratives have focused intense experiences such as helplessness, frustration, anguish, shock and lack of understanding. However, the health workers have shown to have the motivation to share their personal experiences. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes that a better comprehension of the narrative processes used by these workers can allow not only the construction of meanings about a potentially traumatic event, but also the identification of the most appropriate interventions to promote their well-being and the users as well.