Children born prematurely: risk of parental chronic sorrow.

The middle range nursing theory of chronic sorrow offers guidance in the care of families dealing with an ongoing disparity. One such example is the reality of having an infant born prematurely with serious medical conditions. Nurses working in a neonatal intensive care unit, and other pediatric settings need to assess families for symptoms of fear, helplessness or sadness and signs of chronic sorrow. A case scenario provides an example of chronic sorrow. Nurses need to assist families in developing healthy coping strategies so as to alleviate any effects of chronic sorrow that they may experience.