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From a psychiatric ward to a home‐like setting: the meaning of caring as narrated by nurses
Author(s) -
Pejlert Anita,
Norberg Astrid,
Asplund Kenneth
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2702.2000.00417.x
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , closeness , narrative , compassion , psychology , feeling , empathy , nursing , distancing , perspective (graphical) , social psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , disease , covid-19 , pathology , artificial intelligence , political science , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
• This study presents interviews with nurses 1 and 2 years after they moved to a home‐like setting, compared with results from interviews with nurses before their move. A phenomenological hermeneutic perspective inspired by Ricoeur guided the study. The interviews focused on the meaning of their work, including their view of the client as a person and the care they provide. • The meaning of caring was interpreted in terms of the following themes: ‘being free and entrusted with the task of caring makes a difference’; ‘sharing the activities of everyday life is a natural way of being together’; ‘providing a warm, open and supportive caring atmosphere’, ‘sharing the client’s everyday world with compassion and love, glimpsing possibilities’; and ‘dealing with limiting circumstances in care, the lack of “homeliness”’. • Findings suggest a transformation in the view of care that reveals itself in increased closeness in the client–carer relationship and a change in values. The narratives revealed a caring atmosphere, valuing the client as well as the carer. • The same questions guided all interviews, allowing developments to be followed. The carer and the interviewer thus became increasingly familiar with the situation on each interview occasion and the possibility that this has influenced the study must be taken into consideration. However, the similarity between nurses’ narratives validated their trustworthiness.