Building Healthier Workplaces by Giving Space for Work-Related Grief

I saw an online post by a well-known nurse, Kati Kleber,¹  who has developed her own brand that includes a successful podcast, a blog (https://www.freshrn.com), and published books. In the post, she writes about an interview she had for a position as a bedside registered nurse on a medical-surgical floor and how she was startled by her own tears when the human resources employee mentioned an opening in palliative care.¹  Kleber had previous experience in critical care but quickly realized she was not ready to be that close to death and dying again. She concluded the post by sharing her intention to see a therapist about the surprising grief that was triggered by the job interview.¹ 

Increasingly, I have been hearing about the topic of grief from nurses. They are not necessarily seeking therapy but have an acute awareness of unresolved work-related trauma and a...