When a nursing student experiences the death of a patient during clinicals, the emotional impact can be intense and often isolating. It is the knowledge of this experience through real-world training in hospitals or other health care settings that resulted in a student-led initiative through the Bebout Wellness Center at Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences.
CARE: A Bereavement Handbook is a new resource designed to help TCU nursing students and even faculty navigate the difficult emotions that can come with patient loss. It offers evidence-based strategies, tangible tools for emotional regulation and a peer-informed approach to grief care. Created by senior nursing students Gabriella Gentile, Grace Holmes, Hailey Lemon and Sarah Rangel, the project draws on both personal experience and a shared mission to make conversations about loss more open and compassionate.
Born from Student Experience
The idea began with a simple but powerful realization: Many students are grieving silently. After surveying their senior class, the team found that one in four nursing students had already experienced a patient death and 80% had not discussed it with faculty afterward. That silence, they realized, was a problem worth solving.
“We wanted to bridge the gap between loss, healing and purpose,” said Rangel. “The care kit is designed to help reduce stress and support students as they process their emotions, while the handbook gives faculty tools to help guide those conversations in a thoughtful, research-based way.”
The handbook’s framework is organized around the acronym C.A.R.E.:
- Comprehend: Understand how grief impacts nursing students.
- Actively Engage: Initiate supportive conversations using the Johns Hopkins Bereavement Debriefing Framework.
- Reflect: Connect students to on-campus resources and support networks.
- Empower: Provide physical tools through a bereavement care kit to help students process emotions and practice self-care.
The care kit includes a journal with reflection prompts, a lavender-scented plush for grounding, aromatherapy spray and a fidget toy — all designed to reduce stress and promote healing.
A Culture of Wellness, Led by Students
The CARE handbook is the latest initiative from the Bebout Wellness Center for the Helping Professions, which has supported student-led wellness efforts since its founding in 2020. Created with support from the Bebout Family Foundation, the center promotes emotional well-being among nursing students and encourages projects that support self-care, resilience and peer connection.
“This center is built on the idea that change starts with students,” said Danielle Walker, associate professor and coordinator of the center. “When they identify a need and lead the response, the results are more personal, more powerful and more sustainable.”
That philosophy — by students, for students — is what made the bereavement handbook project so meaningful.
“These students experienced something difficult and chose to make things better for those who come after them,” Walker said. “They turned grief into action.”
Creating Space for Healing
For the students behind the project, the goal was to normalize the reality of grief in nursing and offer resources that they wish they’d had themselves.
“We need to normalize conversations about grief and loss as nursing students because it is an inevitable part of being a nurse,” said Lemon. “By learning how to take care of ourselves in nursing school, we’re better equipped to care for others with compassion throughout our careers.”
Faculty are encouraged to use the handbook to guide meaningful conversations with students and direct them to the resources inside. The hope is that both students and instructors will feel more prepared to handle emotionally difficult moments with care and confidence.
“Grief is present in everyone’s story,” said Rangel. “Our hope is for students to know they don’t have to carry it alone.”