La signification de l’expérience d’« être avec » la personne soignée et sa contribution à la réadaptation : la perception d’infirmières

Several nursing authors acknowledge the essential value of the caring relationship and its benefits for the rehabilitation clientele. In spite of this importance, the therapeutic benefits of the caring relationship for this clientele remain an unexamined area. Currently, no Quebec, Canadian or international scientific nursing study is concerned with understanding the experience to « be with » the person being cared for in a rehabilitation context, which is central to the caring relationship according to Watson.  Inspired by Watson’s Human Caring philosophy, this study aims to investigate, by qualitative interviews with seventeen rehabilitation nurses, the meaning of the experience to « be with » the person being cared for, as well as their perception of the contribution of this experience to the person’s rehabilitation. Fifty one interviews, therefore three interviews for every research participant, were analyzed using the « phenomenological » method entitled « Relational Caring Inquiry » developed by Cara (1997). The process of participant recruitment involved the nursing management team of both rehabilitation centres targeted by the study. A variety of participants was favoured (e.g.: gender, educational level, shift worked, and patient care unit).   The process of data analysis allowed the discovery of five eidos-themes. Among these eidos-themes, four refer to the meaning of the experience to « be with » the person cared for (first research question), namely: (a) the importance of humanistic values at the core of the care, (b) the investment of the nurse and the person cared for, (c) the reciprocal and relational care dimensions and finally, (d) the irreplaceable care experience of contextual complexity. In more detail, the first eidos-theme reveals the humanistic basis of the experience to « be with » the cared person. The second expresses the substantial implication of the nurse and the person cared for. The third eidos-theme clarifies the reciprocity and relational dimension as being central elements of the experience to « be with » the person cared for. The fourth eidos-theme documents fundamental and complex origins of this unique care experience, as well as the contextual conditions which facilitate and impede it. The fifth and last eidos-theme emerging from this study, « strengthening the mind-body-spirit harmony of the person cared for and the nurse », illustrates the participants’ perception regarding the therapeutic contribution of the experience to « be with » the person cared (second research question). This contribution meets the patient’s needs, optimizes the rehabilitation progress of the person cared for, promotes the level of well being of the person cared for and the nurse and finally, raises the inner growth of the people engaged in this extraordinary care experience. The recognition of these five eidos-themes supports the emergence of the universal essence of the phenomenon being studied which is entitled « the profound, therapeutic, and transformative human relationship ».  The present study contributes, in an innovative way, to knowledge development, in particular by allowing a better understanding of the meaning of rehabilitation nurses’ experience to « be with » the patient, and advancing evidence-based results to be used as a guide for the development of nursing care in the context of rehabilitation. By determining the ontological meaning of this care experience, the present study makes it possible to specify the place of the phenomenon to « be with » the patient as being central to the caring theory. The results arising from the second research question contribute to the development of a body of knowledge. These evidence-based results will be used to guide the renewal of nursing practice in the context of rehabilitation. Moreover, by identifying the benefits of this care experience, the present study recognizes the element at the heart of transpersonal caring relationship, which contributes to mind-body-spirit harmony for both, the person cared for and the nurse. This study also proposes recommendations for education and research in nursing sciences.

Keyphrases: Caring, Phenomenon to « be with » the person cared for, Rehabilitation nursing care, Care, Transpersonal caring relationship, Phenomenological method «Relational Caring Inquiry», Watson’s Human Caring philosophy