Existential encounters: Nurses' descriptions of critical incidents in end-of-life cancer care

Browall, MariaHögskolan i Skövde,Institutionen för hälsa och lärande,Forskningsspecialiseringen Hälsa och Lärande,Karolinska Institute, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Nursing, Stockholm, Sweden,Äldre och långvariga hälsoproblem, Older Adults and Long-Term Health Problems (författare)

Nurses working with cancer patients in end of life care need to be prepared to encounter patients' psychosocial and spiritual distress. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe nurses' experiences of existential situations when caring for patients severely affected by cancer. Methods and sample: Nurses (registered and enrolled) from three urban in-patient hospices, an oncology clinic and a surgery clinic and a palliative homecare team were, prior to the start of a training program, invited to write down their experiences of a critical incident (CI), in which existential issues were featured. Results: Eighty-eight CIs were written by 83 nurses. The CIs were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Two main themes were found: Encounters with existential pain experiences, which concerned facing death and facing losses; and Encountering experiences of hope, which concerned balancing honesty, and desire to live. Conclusions: This study points out that health care professionals need to be aware of patients' feelings of abandonment in exposed situations such as patients' feelings of existential loneliness. That there are some patients that express a desire to die and this makes the nurses feel uncomfortable and difficult to confront these occurrences and its therefore important to listen to patients' stories, regardless of care organization, in order to gain access to patients' inner existential needs.

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP Hälsovetenskap Omvårdnad hsv//swe
MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES Health Sciences Nursing hsv//eng
Cancer
Critical incidents
End of life care
Existential encounters
Nurses' experiences
Cancer; Critical incidents; End of life care; Existential encounters; Nurses' experiences

Henoch, Ingela,1956Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för vårdvetenskap och hälsa,Centrum för personcentrerad vård vid Göteborgs universitet (GPCC),Institute of Health and Care Sciences,University of Gothenburg Centre for person-centred care (GPCC)(Swepub:gu)xhenoi (författare)
Melin-Johansson, ChristinaMittuniversitetet,Avdelningen för omvårdnad,Mid Sweden University, Department of Nursing, Östersund, Sweden(Swepub:esh)titmel (författare)
Strang, Susann,1953Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för vårdvetenskap och hälsa,Institute of Health and Care Sciences(Swepub:gu)xstrsu (författare)
Danielson, EllaGothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Mittuniversitetet,Avdelningen för omvårdnad,University of Gothenburg, The Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Göteborg, Sweden / Mid Sweden University, Department of Nursing, Östersund, Sweden,Institutionen för vårdvetenskap och hälsa,Institute of Health and Care Sciences(Swepub:gu)xdanel (författare)
Högskolan i SkövdeInstitutionen för hälsa och lärande (creator_code:org_t)

Ingår i:European Journal of Oncology Nursing: Elsevier BV18:6, s. 636-6441462-38891532-2122

Av författaren/redakt...: Browall, Maria; Henoch, Ingela, ...; Melin-Johansson, ...; Strang, Susann, ...; Danielson, Ella

Om ämnet

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP: MEDICIN OCH HÄLS ...; och Hälsovetenskap; och Omvårdnad

Av lärosätet: Mittuniversitetet; Jönköping University; Högskolan i Skövde; Karolinska Institutet; Göteborgs universitet; Marie Cederschiöld högskola

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