CREATING A SAFE PASSAGE: THE MEANING OF ENGAGEMENT FOR NURSES CARING FOR CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES.
Contributors: University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Published: 1993
Number of pages: 199
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Caring is a concept that increasingly has been recognized as central to nursing. Caring has been cited in the nursing literature as the essence of nursing; however, there is a lack of understanding of how nurses live caring within their everyday practice as they relate with patients and their families. Most investigations of caring in nursing practice have presented the behavioral aspects of caring or have described caring from a global perspective. Few have focused on specific qualities of the caring interaction. Engagement is one such quality. The purpose of this research was to uncover the meaning of engagement for nurses who care for children and their families.

This study employed a hermeneutic-phenomenological methodology as specified by van Manen (1984; 1990) and Ray (1991). This method involves: the intentionality of the inner being of the researcher, the process of dialogic experiencing, the process of hermeneutic-phenomenological reflecting and transforming, dialoguing with the written texts, and attending to the credibility and significance of the hermeneutic-phenomenological process. Data were generated from audiotaped interviews and journaling. A convenience sample consisted of eight nurses who worked in a pediatric ambulatory care setting. The first level of reflection revealed the themes and metathemes of the meaning of engagement: Making Connection: Becoming Aware of Person, Perceiving the Other: Developing and Nurturing the Relationship, A Sense of Investment: Unfolding From Commitment, and Remaining Distant: Choosing Not to Engage. In the second level of reflection, selected literature further illuminated the meaning of engagement. Through deeper reflection, the metaphor Creating a Safe Passage surfaced to capture the meaning of engagement.

This research supports the transformation of health care delivery toward a greater emphasis on the caring relationship. Findings illuminate specific essences of an engaged relationship and concretize the broad philosophical notions of caring. Implications for sensitizing health care professionals in practice, education and research are described.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-04, Section: B, page: 1886.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, 1993.

School code: 0831.