Abstract:
When a child dies, often times, the most neglected victim is the surviving sibling (s). Their grief is often overshadowed by the parental caregiver's needs and ideologies of the grieving process, leaving them in a state of dysfunctional grieving. The child's grief process should be therapeutically managed and appropriate resources should be obtained in order to prevent negative outcomes and life-long complications from unresolved grief Therapeutic interventions administered by the registered nurse should be tailored to the individual child's needs while considering their cognitive and developmental levels. A common form of therapeutic intervention is bibliotherapy or the use of books to help the child identify with the feelings they are experiencing. An identified deficiency in appropriate literature for both grieving families and the grieving child has initiated a rise in concern. The current literature must be evaluated and analyzed to determine how it meets the developmental needs of the targeted child reader and any areas that require improvement. This report scores and evaluates selected pieces of children literature to provide a fundamental understanding of literary needs for the grieving child, particularly the surviving sibling.
