INTERPRETIVE STUDY OF THE METAPHORS MALE CORONARY ARTERY SURGERY PATIENTS USE TO DESCRIBE THE SURGICAL EXPERIENCE.
Contributors: Adelphi University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 270
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery.
Description: The patient recovering from coronary artery surgery encounters a pivotal point along a chronic disease trajectory where the patient's illness reality has been significantly altered. The patient in the aftermath of surgery evaluates the nature of the changes in his illness and constructs an altered illness reality, replete with projections of what may be demanded of him in order to successfully manage illness. From a meaning-centered approach to nursing, the identification and provision of appropriate care is contingent upon an understanding of the patient's altered illness reality. Understanding the patient's illness reality requires a discernment of the meaning the patient assigns to the surgical experience.

Discerning meaning and one's construction of reality cannot be achieved directly. From a meaning-centered approach, the most effective route to achieving such understanding is obtained through the interpretation of language, specifically the metaphor, a language entity noted for its polysemic nature. The purpose of this qualitative study was therefore, to investigate the language patients utilized to describe the coronary artery experience. The intent in so doing was to obtain insight into the ideologic framework, contained within the individual, which is utilized to interpret and assign meaning to the surgical experience.

Participants in this study were recruited from the sample of male coronary artery surgery patients at University Hospital, State University of New York at Stony Brook. The investigator, using a semi-structured interview technique, asked each participant to relate his story of cardiac illness, describing the surgical experience. Specific questions were utilized to elicit information concerning the patient's perception of the effects of the procedure upon his illness. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed. The investigator also constructed fieldnotes throughout the interview process. The transcriptions and fieldnotes were coded and analyzed employing the technique of thematic analysis.

Analysis of this qualitative investigation resulted in 13 major themes and 6 minor themes which provide insight into the belief system the patients in this sample utilized to interpret the surgical event. These themes suggest a world view significantly influenced by the positivist view of science. The data also reveal that the patient's belief system is dominated by the cultural norms associated with what it means to be male within American Society.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: B, page: 1743.

Thesis (PH.D.)--ADELPHI UNIVERSITY, 1989.

School code: 0001.