|
|
Article: The challenges of caring for families of the terminally ill: nurses' lived experience.
- Article from:
- Contemporary Nurse
- Article date:
- July 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 eContent Management Pty Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
ABSTRACT
Caring for families of the terminally ill is an important aspect of nursing care as nurses are considered the main health care professionals who are closest to families. This paper describes the experience of seven registered nurses caring for families of the terminally ill in Western Australia. Five of the nurses worked in an acute area at a public hospital; the other two nurses worked at long term care settings at a private hospital. Descriptive phenomenology as described by Husserl (1970) was used to describe and explore nurses' lived experience. Data were collected through in depth interviews and analysed using the Colaizzi method. Four major themes ...