The Lived Experience of Grieving the Loss of an Important Other

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to uncover the structure of the lived experience of grieving the loss of an important other using Parse's research methodology. Parse's theory of human becoming provided the nursing perspective for the study. Five participants described their experience of grieving the loss of an important other through dialogical engagement with the researcher. The researcher dwelled with the transcribed descriptions and through the processes of extraction-synthesis uncovered the structure of the lived experience of grieving the loss of an important other as an anguished suffering in devastating void amidst consoling movements away from and together with the lost one and others while confidently moving beyond personal doubts. Linked to the major concepts of Parse's theory through heuristic interpretation, the structure was abstracted as valuing the connecting-separating in transforming. The study adds to knowledge about grieving and expands Parse's theory of nursing. Recommendations for practice and further research are offered.