I Chose The Griefshare Support Group - 1249 Words

I chose the GriefShare support group because as nurses we will need to help our patients and their families with the grief process when a loved one passes away. On March 29, 2014, I met Claudette St. John, the group leader, at 6:45pm at Northwest Christian Church in Acworth, GA. Rick Baldwin also attended the meeting. The group meets from 7-8:30pm. Claudette shared that she has been doing grief support classes for the past 20 years and the past 3 years she has been doing GriefShare at Northwest Christian. She lost her teenage daughter in a car accident 20 years ago. She expressed that there really are not any rules, other than just respecting each individual. She tasks herself with keeping the meetings on track and has a democratic leadership style. GriefShare is a Christian based program consisting of 13 weekly session. Participants do not need to attend all 13 sessions, the sessions can also be done individually. A workbook is given to those that are participating in the program. G riefShare’s goal is to help those experiencing grief, work through the process and recognize the different aspects of grief that they may encounter. Prior to the start of the meeting, she introduced Rick and me to the group. The group inquired what program we were in and if either of us had experience in dealing with grief. I shared that my dad passed away suddenly 2 years ago. That year, I also lost my grandfather, grandmother and my aunt. There were 5 individuals who were attending the meeting.