Practice and Attitudes of Nursing Staff to Bereavement Care for Pregnancy Loss: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract Background Despite its recognized significance, numerous obstacles hinder the implementation of bereavement care for pregnancy loss by nursing staff (including midwives and nurses). The availability and barriers to bereavement care in Japan are unclear. To assess the practices and attitudes of caregivers toward bereavement care for pregnancy loss, examine organizational support, and evaluate the burden on caregivers in delivering this care. Methods A cross-sectional survey conducted from January to April 2022 with 370 nursing staff from 43 Japanese maternity facilities assessed bereavement care necessity, implementation, staff support, and burden. Results Over 50% of nurses acknowledged bereavement care's importance, but a gap exists between its perceived necessity and execution, especially in post-discharge referrals (89.2% needed, 33.2% done), manuals provisions (74.6%, 25.7%), peer group introductions (73%, 17.8%), couple counselling (89.5%, 28.6%), husband support (91.4%, 40%), ongoing care (90.8%, 41.4%), and wish-based care planning (94.5%, 50.5%). Only 41.8% reported teamwork in bereavement care, with organizational support below 30%. Approximately 63.5% of nursing staff viewed bereavement care as a burden, with mental (80.4%) and time burdens (60%) being significant. Conclusions Despite bereavement care's necessity, there's a significant gap in joint couple counselling, targeted husband support, personalized and continuous care, and informative material provision. Organizational support deficiency and emotional burden pose major challenges for nursing staff in delivering bereavement care. Developing supportive policies, allocating necessary resources, and engaging with interdisciplinary support networks, all while ensuring staff well-being and continuous service improvement are crucial.