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Nurse–patient interaction is a resource for hope, meaning in life and self‐transcendence in nursing home patients
Author(s) -
Haugan Gørill
Publication year - 2014
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/scs.12028
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , self transcendence , psychology , structural equation modeling , nursing , transcendence (philosophy) , social psychology , medicine , psychotherapist , epistemology , personality , philosophy , computer science , machine learning , big five personality traits , big five personality traits and culture
Background Spiritual dimensions such as hope, meaning in life and self‐transcendence have been found to be predictors of successful ageing, life satisfaction and well‐being in older individuals. Connectedness and communicating with others have been seen to facilitate hope, meaning in life and self‐transcendence among nursing home patients. Aims This study aimed to investigate the associations between hope, meaning in life, self‐transcendence and nurse–patient interaction in a nursing home population. Design and methods A cross‐sectional design was employed, collecting data in 44 different N orwegian nursing homes ( NH s) from 250 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Approval by all regulatory institutions dealing with research issues in N orway and the M anagement U nit at the 44 NH s was obtained. A sample of 202 cognitively intact nursing home patients responded to the H erth H ope I ndex, the P urpose in L ife test, the S elf‐ T ranscendence S cale and the N urse– P atient I nteraction S cale. A structural equation model ( SEM ) of the hypothesized relationships between the constructs was tested. Results The SEM model fit well with the present data. Significant direct relationships of nurse–patient interaction on hope, meaning in life and self‐transcendence were displayed. Meaning and the interconnectedness dimension of hope appeared to be particularly dynamic resources, revealing significant influences on all the constructs in the SEM model tested. Conclusion Nurse–patient interaction influences hope, meaning in life and self‐transcendence in cognitively intact nursing home patients and might be an important resource in relation to patients' health and global well‐being. Thus, care providers are above all fundamental for nursing home patients. Advancing caregivers' interacting and communicating skills might facilitate patients' health and global well‐being and inspire professional caregivers as they perform their daily care practices. More research of the effectiveness of such strategies is greatly needed. Limitations The SEM model tested comprised 20 variables, indicating a desirable sample size of n = 200, while the present effective sample was n = 187. Also, cross‐sectional data do not allow making conclusion on the causality.