Working in long-term care, I expect that residents will die. When my supervisor became ill and died quite suddenly, it really shook me. I realized, in a whole new way, that all of us are vulnerable.

If you are a healthcare provider

If you are a healthcare provider, additional factors may impact your grief and that of your other co-workers. The death of a co-worker can be deeply disturbing, not only because of your relationship with them but also because their death can shock or disrupt your expectations and assumptions about life and death.

Healthcare providers carry out their work with the understanding that some patients or residents will die. The death of a co-worker is different. Your co-worker may have died of an illness or as a result of an injury; they may have died at home or while on vacation; or they may have died while working or as the result of their work. They may also have been your patient.