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Community nurses' experiences of ethical problems in end‐of‐life care in the patient's own home
Author(s) -
Karlsson Margareta,
Karlsson Christina,
Barbosa da Silva António,
Berggren Ingela,
Söderlund Maud
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2012.01087.x
Subject(s) - feeling , end of life care , interpretation (philosophy) , theme (computing) , nursing , power of attorney , qualitative research , power (physics) , psychology , medicine , health care , social psychology , palliative care , sociology , social science , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , economics , programming language , economic growth , operating system
Aim To gain a deeper understanding of community nurses' experiences of ethical problems in end‐of‐life care in the patient′s own home. Method Ten female nurses from five different communities with experience of end‐of‐life care were interviewed. A hermeneutic approach inspired by G adamer was used to analyse the qualitative data from the interviews. Findings In the first step of interpretation, two themes emerged: U ncomfortable feelings and L ack of cooperation and in the second step, one theme L ack of security emerged. Finally, the overall interpretation revealed the theme Feelings of loss of control in end‐of‐life care in the patient's own home. Conclusion The nurses exhibited commitment and a desire to do good when caring for patients in the end‐of‐life phase, even if they sometimes experienced feelings of lack of control. This implies that, when confronted with care‐related issues, they have the power to both act and react. This study aimed to increase understanding of ethical problems that arise in end‐of‐life care in the patient's own home and revealed the need to take the patients', relatives' and nurses' perspectives on health and suffering into consideration to ensure good end‐of‐life home care.