The Theory of

Chronic Sorrow
Theorists:
Georgene Gaskill Eakes,
Mary Lermann Burke,
& Margaret Hainsworth

Presented by: Mica Ella M. Casiño, I-BSN

DEFINITION:

CHRONIC- persisting for a long time or constantly

recurring.
SORROW- a feeling of deep distress caused by loss,
disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or
others.
CREDENTIALS OF THEORISTS
Credentials of Theorists
 Education
1966 Diploma in Nursing-Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham, North
Carolina
1977 Summa Cum Laude from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical
State University
1980 M.S.N. - University of North Carolina
1988 Ed.D.- North Carolina State University
Work
Acute and Community-based Psychiatric and Mental Health Settings
1980 faculty at the East Carolina University School of Nursing in Greenville,
North Carolina.

Awards
federal traineeship for graduate study at the master’s level and a
graduate fellowship from the North Carolina League for Nursing
1979 inducted into Sigma Theta Tau International
Georgene Gaskill
1988 Phi Kappa Phi
Eakes
1945 to present
ORIGIN OF PHENOMENON

 Eakes’ car accident

 Burke's master thesis
 Hainsworth's support group
 Sigma Theta Tau International
 Nursing Consortium for Research
on Chronic Sorrow (NCRCS)
THEORETICAL SOURCES

Deductive- development from another theory and

hypothesis
Inductive- development from their own data
Deductive- development from another
theory or hypothesis

In 1998, Georgene Eakes, Mary L. Burke and Margareth A.

Hainsworth published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship
their nursing middle-range theory of chronic sorrow as
based on the work of Olshansky. They also relied on the
Transactional Model of Stress and Coping to describe
how people cope with chronic sorrow (Schreier & Dross,
2014).
 The NCRCS theorists cite Olshansky’s
observations of parents with mentally
retarded children that indicated these
parents experienced recurrent sadness and
his coining the term chronic sorrow. This
original concept was described as “a broad,
simple description of psychological reaction
to a tragic situation” (Lindgren, Burke,
Hainsworth, et al., 1992, p. 30)
 The NCRCS group focused on the response
to grief and incorporated Lazarus and
Folkman’s 1984 work on stress and
adaptation as a basis for management
methods described in their work (Eakes,
Burke, & Hainsworth, 1998).
Inductive-development from their own data

Individuals and their caregivers with the following:

• Cancer
• Infertility
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Chronic mental illness
• Parental caregivers of the following:
 Key Concepts

CHRONIC SORROW- is the ongoing disparity resulting from a

loss characterized by pervasiveness and permanence.
Symptoms of grief recur periodically, and these symptoms
are potentially progressive.
LOSS- occurs as a result of disparity between the “ideal”
and real situations or experiences.
TRIGGER EVENTS-are situations, circumstances, and
conditions that highlight the disparity or the recurrent loss
and initiate or exacerbate feelings of grief.
Key Concepts (continuation)

MANAGEMENT METHODS- are means by which individuals

deal with chronic sorrow. These may be internal (personal
coping strategies) or external (health care practitioner or
other persons’ interventions).
Ineffective management results from strategies that
increase the individual’s discomfort or heighten the feelings
of chronic sorrow.
Effective management results from strategies that lead
to increased comfort of the affected individual.
Cycle of Chronic Sorrow
Application in Nursing Profession

 The theory emphasizes that chronic

sorrow is a normal reaction for
individuals experiencing illness,
deficiencies or loss and so supporting
and coaching is the role of any nurse
who perceives that eventually this
person can cope and continue with
his normal activities of daily living.
 Nurses can provide anticipatory guidance to individuals at risk. The
primary roles of nurses include empathetic presence, teacher-
expert, and caring and competent caregiver.
References

Nursing Theories and Their Works, 6th edition

https://nursekey.com/theory-of-chronic-sorrow/
http://groupbn207.blogspot.com/p/theorist.html?m=1