Nurses' Experiences of Encounters in Home Care: a Phenomenological Hermeneutic Study

Overview

Journal Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being

Specialties Health Services
Public Health

Date 2021 Oct 11

PMID 34633907

Citations 4

Authors

Anna Larsson Gerdin

Ove Hellzen

Malin Rising-Holmstrom

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: nurses working in home care often encounter patients with multiple diagnoses in unpredictable environments. This may cause ethical and emotional challenges and influence nurses' daily work. The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of nurses' lived experiences of encountering patients in home care.

Methods: narrative interviews were conducted with 11 nurses. These interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim and analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic approach.

Findings: the findings are presented under three main themes: (1)"Being receptive to the other" (with subthemes "Caring about the encounter," and "Establishing trusting relationships"). (2) "Need to handle Handling the unpredictable" (with subthemes "Being alone in the encounter" and "Being experienced and competent"). (3) "Managing frustration" (with subthemes "Feeling insufficient" and "Feeling restricted". Having overall nursing responsibility challenged the nurse's self-confidence in providing care trustfully.

Conclusions: encountering patients in home care means relating to the other unconditionally, which aim to highlight patients' needs. Being a nurse in home care is both emotionally demanding and rewarding. Having the courage to face their own and the patients' vulnerabilities will entail the promotion of natural receptivity and responsiveness to patients' needs.

Citing Articles

Recovery environments in places of daily living: a scoping review and conceptual analysis.

Mizuochi Y, Shigematsu Y, Fukuura Y BMC Public Health. 2024; 24(1):3046.

PMID: 39497057 PMC: 11536951. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-20489-7.

Digital ethical reflection in long-term care: Leaders' expectations.

Jakobsen L, Olsen R, Brinchmann B, Devik S Nurs Ethics. 2023; 31(6):1065-1078.

PMID: 37540552 PMC: 11440789. DOI: 10.1177/09697330231191276.

First year nursing students' reflections about developing their verbal nursing skills during their nursing education in China: a qualitative study.

Zhu X, Rask M, Xu H Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1149512.

PMID: 37213655 PMC: 10196177. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1149512.

Nursing leadership and management in home care: A qualitative scoping review.

Jordal K, Saltveit V, Tonnessen S J Nurs Manag. 2022; 30(8):4212-4220.

PMID: 36223165 PMC: 10091940. DOI: 10.1111/jonm.13872.

References

Ohman M, Soderberg S . District nursing--sharing an understanding by being present. Experiences of encounters with people with serious chronic illness and their close relatives in their homes. J Clin Nurs. 2004; 13(7):858-66. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2004.00975.x. View

Lindahl B, Liden E, Lindblad B . A meta-synthesis describing the relationships between patients, informal caregivers and health professionals in home-care settings. J Clin Nurs. 2010; 20(3-4):454-63. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2009.03008.x. View

Corbett S, Williams F . Striking a professional balance: interactions between nurses and their older rural patients. Br J Community Nurs. 2014; 19(4):162-7. DOI: 10.12968/bjcn.2014.19.4.162. View

Karlsson M, Karlsson C, Barbosa da Silva A, Berggren I, Soderlund M . Community nurses' experiences of ethical problems in end-of-life care in the patient's own home. Scand J Caring Sci. 2012; 27(4):831-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2012.01087.x. View

Turjamaa R, Hartikainen S, Kangasniemi M, Pietila A . Living longer at home: a qualitative study of older clients' and practical nurses' perceptions of home care. J Clin Nurs. 2014; 23(21-22):3206-17. DOI: 10.1111/jocn.12569. View

Stenbock-Hult B, Sarvimaki A . The meaning of vulnerability to nurses caring for older people. Nurs Ethics. 2011; 18(1):31-41. DOI: 10.1177/0969733010385533. View

Sorensen E, Hall E . Seeing the big picture in nursing: a source of human and professional pride. J Adv Nurs. 2011; 67(10):2284-91. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05639.x. View

. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. Nurs Ethics. 2005; 9(1):105-9. DOI: 10.1191/0969733002ne486xx. View

Ericson-Lidman E, Norberg A, Persson B, Strandberg G . Healthcare personnel's experiences of situations in municipal elderly care that generate troubled conscience. Scand J Caring Sci. 2012; 27(2):215-23. DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2012.01017.x. View

10.

Johansen E, Fagerstrom L . An investigation of the role nurses play in Norwegian home care. Br J Community Nurs. 2010; 15(10):497-502. DOI: 10.12968/bjcn.2010.15.10.78742. View

11.

Eckerblad J, Theander K, Ekdahl A, Unosson M, Wirehn A, Milberg A . Symptom burden in community-dwelling older people with multimorbidity: a cross-sectional study. BMC Geriatr. 2015; 15:1. PMC: 4292813. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2318-15-1. View

12.

Kihlgren A, Forslund K, Fagerberg I . Managements' perception of community nurses' decision-making processes when referring older adults to an emergency department. J Nurs Manag. 2006; 14(6):428-36. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2934.2006.00642.x. View

13.

Breitholtz A, Snellman I, Fagerberg I . Carers' ambivalence in conflict situations with older persons. Nurs Ethics. 2013; 20(2):226-37. DOI: 10.1177/0969733012455566. View

14.

McGarry J . The essence of 'community' within community nursing: a district nursing perspective. Health Soc Care Community. 2003; 11(5):423-30. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2524.2003.00445.x. View

15.

Oresland S, Maatta S, Norberg A, Jorgensen M, Lutzen K . Nurses as guests or professionals in home health care. Nurs Ethics. 2008; 15(3):371-83. DOI: 10.1177/0969733007088361. View

16.

Sellman D . Towards an understanding of nursing as a response to human vulnerability. Nurs Philos. 2005; 6(1):2-10. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-769X.2004.00202.x. View

17.

Magnusson A, Severinsson E, Lutzen K . Nurses' views on situations related to privacy in providing home care for persons with long-term mental illness: an exploratory study. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2002; 23(1):61-75. DOI: 10.1080/01612840252825482. View

18.

Thome B, Dykes A, Hallberg I . Home care with regard to definition, care recipients, content and outcome: systematic literature review. J Clin Nurs. 2003; 12(6):860-72. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2702.2003.00803.x. View

19.

Sundstrom M, Edberg A, Ramgard M, Blomqvist K . Encountering existential loneliness among older people: perspectives of health care professionals. Int J Qual Stud Health Well-being. 2018; 13(1):1474673. PMC: 5990949. DOI: 10.1080/17482631.2018.1474673. View

20.

Cowan D, Norman I, Coopamah V . Competence in nursing practice: a controversial concept--a focused review of literature. Nurse Educ Today. 2005; 25(5):355-62. DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2005.03.002. View