S-T. D. Fredriksen and T. Svensson Schwartz-Barcott, 2005; Kelleher, 2006; Sims & Miracle, 2006). A separate research field in which the relational dimension between the patient and significant others is a key component is within phenomenological hermeneutic analysis. This tradition looks at the body as a subjective reflected body as opposed to traditions in which the body is considered physiolo- gical and cognitive (Thøgersen, 2004). This ontolo- gical understanding of the body is characterised by what we see of individual persons’ lived lives, coupled with awareness and recognition of one’s own being in the world (Nortvedt & Grimen, 2004). This consciousness and recognition is based on the acknowledgement that man does not exist alone and isolated, but lives and acts in the situation(s) (Heidegger, 1962; Martinsen, 1993). The being present in (and with) body in a situation, offers certain experiences. Our involvement in the situation challenges the way we deal with the world around us (Benner & Wrubel, 2001). This sensuous commu- nity also leaves the critically ill patient with impres- sions from his/her significant others when they are present in the form of tuned sensing (Løgstrup, 1995). Tuning makes mankind aware of reverence and shame. These are ontological life necessities (Martinsen, 1996). The span between reverence and shame creates tension and opposition in the situa- tion, which leads to a revelation of the critically ill person’s relational life in a context where he cannot exclude relationships, because he is in the world with his being (Løgstrup, 1982). What it is like to be in physical proximity to one’s significant others during critical illness, can only be revealed by those who have experience. Critically ill persons’ experiences in relation to their significant others have hardly been scientifically investigated (Fredriksen & Ringsberg, 2007; Storli, Lindseth, & Aspelund, 2008; Tracy & Ceronsky, 2001). The purpose of this study is to bring to light experiences from intensive care patients about their relationship to their significant others, and the importance of these relationships in a situation of critical illness. Method This study applies Kvale’s (1997) phenomen- ological hermeneutic methodology; by using inter- views to gather data from intensive care patients, and a three-step analysis. The method is characterised by an open, communicative, and pragmatic dynamic, inspired by hermeneutic theory. According to Kvale (1997), it targets continuity between descriptions and interpretations during all the phases of the research process in order to reveal the informer’s experienced lifeworld. Access to the field of investigation and selection of respondents Written permits were collected from three hospitals in Northern Norway, to contact former intensive care patients. Staff nurses distributed the question- naire to potential respondents selected on the following inclusion criteria: 1. 18 years 2. Five days or longer in intensive care Data collection and analysis Data was collected through in-depth interviews with six former intensive care patients between the ages of 20 and 75 years of age (one male and five females) within 6 months after discharge from hospital. The informants were chosen by convenient sampling. The male patient suffered from an acute infection. Two of the female patients were treated for pulmon- ary disease, one treated for an infectious disease, one had received surgery for cancer, and one suffered from intoxication due to substance abuse. All patients were on life support (most of the time) in the ICU and could not communicate verbally. The interviews were conducted in the form of a dialogue between the respondent and the researcher and carried out by way of narratives where the informa- tion rendered became the premise for the interview’s content. The respondents commented that they appreciated communicating their experiences to someone who understood what they were referring to. Interviews were taped and transcribed word by word. The patients’ significant others were close friends, wife, husbands, daughters, and mothers. The three-step analysis of the interviews involves: (1) self-understanding, (2) common sense, and (3) theoretical interpretation. The first phase sums up the respondents’ personal conceptions of the inter- views from the perspective of the authors. This understanding develops from reading the interviews thoroughly, and extracting essential knowledge from the material according to the intensive care patients personal experiences of significant others. The second phase goes beyond the personal conceptions of the respondents, and integrates relevant data from the authors’ knowledge base, while the researchers maintain a general level of understanding. The subthemes, which form the structure of common sense, were analysed through dividing the interviews into narratives. Each narra- tive (consisting of an introduction, a midsection with at least two units of meaning and a conclusion) was then compressed and interpreted according to total- ity and context in a hermeneutical process. 2 (page number not for citation purpose) Citation: Int J Qualitative Stud Health Well-being 2010; 5: 5120 - DOI: 10.3402/qhw.v5i4.5120