Aims: Clarify and define the concept of professional bereavement in nursing.
Design: Rodgers' evolutionary method was used to identify the attributes, antecedents, and consequences of professional bereavement in nursing.
Data sources: Literature from inception to May 20, 2024, was searched from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Medline, EBSCO host, Proquest, Ovid, and Cochrane.
Reporting methods: The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were adopted.
Results: The 32 articles included in the study provided data on the concept of professional bereavement in nursing. We propose the concept of professional bereavement in nursing as follows: Professional bereavement in nursing is the experience of a patient or colleague's death in the workplace, influenced by contextual, internal, and external factors. Nurses perceive personal and professional losses, exhibit a multidimensional liminal state, and experience personal impacts (life and worldview) and professional impacts (health-related productivity and professional ability).
Conclusions: We developed a preliminary conceptual model of professional bereavement in nursing based on its attributes, antecedents, and consequences. This conceptual model promotes the development of theories related to professional bereavement.
Impact: This is the first article to clarify and define professional bereavement in nursing. We have clarified the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of professional bereavement, which provides a conceptual framework for understanding professional bereavement. The conceptual framework guides the content of interventions and suggests future professional bereavement interventions from a dialectical perspective.
Patient or public contribution: Not applicable.
Keywords: concept analysis; death; nursing; professional bereavement.
© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.