NURSES' CARING AS PERCEIVED BY POST-OPERATIVE PATIENTS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY.
Contributors: University of Texas at Austin.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 167
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Many nursing leaders have identified caring as the essence of nursing. It is believed the explication of caring will help define nursing. To further our understanding of caring from the patients' perspective, the purpose of this study was to identify and describe the elements of nurses' caring as perceived by post-operative patients. The study focused on the exploration of the patient's perception of what the nurse did for and with patients which demonstrated caring. There were 2 study questions: (1) What do patients perceive as demonstrations of nurses' caring, and (2) How do patients describe their feelings about demonstrations of nurses' caring? The method for the study was phenomenology, an inductive, descriptive methodology.

A convenience sample of 10 adult patients, 5 male and 5 female, recovering from general surgery, were interviewed by the researcher using 2 open-ended questions. Interviews were transcribed for analysis using the steps of phenomenology as set forth by Spiegelberg. Transcripts were studied for descriptions of nurse caring. In answering question 1, patterns emerged which were developed into common themes. The themes were grouped to form 5 categories within caring: (1) Assessing Needs--what was needed or expected, (2) Planning Care--preparation and knowledge for managing care, (3) Intervening--response to needs, (4) Validating--evaluating nursing action and participant's condition, and (5) Interactional Attitude--positive, growth producing interactions. Elements describing the essence of each category were presented to explain the meaning. The findings related to Question 2 were the feelings or outcomes to caring, which were both physical and mental responses. A summary description of caring was developed and relationship to concept analysis is given.

Unsolicited variations on the themes to caring included participant perspectives on the nursing profession and noncaring descriptions. Noncaring elements centered around impersonal interaction, lack of information, no action nor help, incompetence, hurrying, and non-availability.

Results of the study indicate nursing has both doing and being in a dual aspect of skillful, knowledgeable competence used with a person-centered interactional attitude. Patients value caring, confirmed as an essential part of nursing. Further study into the nurse-patient relationship is needed to determine the effects on patient recovery.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-06, Section: B, page: 2133.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN, 1988.

School code: 0227.