Assisting clients with disenfranchised grief: the role of a mental health nurse.

Résumé

Every society has norms that frame the way individuals grieve. These norms also help define significant and insignificant losses. Losses exist within cultures that are not discussed or acknowledged because of social stigma. When the ways individuals grieve, or the losses they endure, go beyond accepted social norms, their grief may be seen as disenfranchised. The current article explores the topic of disenfranchised grief and presents methods that could be used by mental health nurses to help clients who are experiencing disenfranchised grief.