An RN is working with a 34-year-old patient admitted after surgical removal of a ruptured spleen and an open reduction internal fixation of her left femur after a multiple vehicle accident in which it...

An RN is working with a 34-year-old patient admitted after surgical removal of a ruptured spleen and an open reduction internal fixation of her left femur after a multiple vehicle accident in which it has been determined that her husband was driving under the influence of alcohol. Her husband and a passenger in the second car were killed in the accident.

In her acute grieving state, the patient verbalizes excessive guilt, stating she never should have let her husband drive after drinking at a party earlier on the evening of the accident. The patient tearfully sobs, “I’ve taken away my babies’ father, lost another family their loved one, and caused terrible grief to everyone! It’s all my fault. If only I’d insisted that I drive. I knew he’d been drinking, but it didn’t seem like he was drunk. This is all my fault!Everyone must really hate me. They must wish that it was me who died. I know I do.”