Grief care competence among nurses and nursing students: A scoping review.
TL;DR
Grief care competence is a dynamic, context-sensitive capability rather than a collection of isolated attributes and nursing curricula should combine staged experiential learning and multimethod assessment with organisational support for transfer into practice.
Abstract
Aim
To synthesise how grief care competence is enacted, assessed, shaped and developed among nurses and nursing students and propose an evidence-informed conceptual framework.
Background
Grief care is required across settings, yet competence is inconsistently defined, inferred from non-equivalent proxies and not integrated across practice, assessment, associated factors and education.
Design
Scoping review.
Methods
Guided by the Arksey and O'Malley framework and reported according to PRISMA-ScR, seven databases were searched for evidence published from 1 January 2001-30 June 2026. Two reviewers independently screened records and charted data. Forty sources were synthesised using directed-inductive thematic analysis.
Results
Five functions characterised enacted competence: recognising grief-related needs; compassionate communication; cultural, spiritual and meaning-oriented support; coordination and follow-up; and reflective emotional regulation. Instruments reported internal consistency coefficients of 0.70-0.981 but predominantly used self-report and measured isolated proxies rather than observed, cross-context competence. Competence was associated with individual resources, clinical experience, interpersonal relationships, education and organisational support; self-efficacy, reflection and emotional regulation emerged as potential learning mechanisms. Simulation, blended learning and reflective interventions reported mainly immediate improvements, whereas sustained clinical behaviour and patient- or family-centred outcomes were rarely evaluated. Cross-domain synthesis linked competence development with assessment and enactment in practice.
Conclusions
Grief care competence is a dynamic, context-sensitive capability rather than a collection of isolated attributes. Nursing curricula should combine staged experiential learning and multimethod assessment with organisational support for transfer into practice. Longitudinal, multicentre and cross-cultural studies are needed to test the framework and develop performance-based measures.