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Assessment of professional bereavement: The development and validation of the Professional Bereavement Scale

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2021

Chuqian Chen Open the ORCID record for Chuqian Chen [Opens in a new window]  and
Amy Yin Man Chow
Chuqian Chen
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Humanities, School of Humanities, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Amy Yin Man Chow*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
*
Author for correspondence: Amy Yin Man Chow, Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China. E-mail: chowamy@hku.hk
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Abstract

Objectives

To develop and validate Professional Bereavement Scale (PBS), a specific measurement tool for professional bereavement experiences.

Methods

An online cross-sectional survey collected data from 563 physicians and nurses from urban hospitals in Mainland China. Item consistency analysis, component factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were run to develop and validate the scale. Correlational analysis was conducted to evaluate the psychometric property of the scale.

Results

Two subscales of the PBS were developed: the 17-item Short-term Bereavement Reactions Subscale (PBS–SBR) and the 15-item Accumulated Global Changes Subscale (PBS–AGC). Four factors, namely, frustration and trauma, guilt, grief, and being moved, are involved in PBS–SBR. Five factors are involved in PBS–AGC, which are new insights, more acceptance of limitations, more death-related anxiety, less influenced by patient deaths, and better coping with patient deaths. Both subscales have good content validity, construct validity, and criterion validity, as well as satisfactory internal consistency and split-half reliability.

Significance of results

PBS is a specific assessment tool for professional bereavement which is clearly defined, comprehensive, rigorously tested, and generalizable to different professional caregivers from various departments. Unveiled constructs illustrate that professional bereavement experiences contain a professional dimension in addition to a personal dimension both in an event-specific and a global perspective, which distinguishes them from familial bereavement experiences.

Keywords

Accumulated global changesNursePhysicianProfessional Bereavement ScaleShort-term bereavement reactions
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 4 - 14
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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