Person-Centered Relational Care Experienced by Critical Care Nurses: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Study

PURPOSE@#The aim of the study was to explore nurses' experience of person-centered relational care in the context of critical care.@*METHODS@#Key interview questions were developed based on the human-to-human relationship model suggested by Travelbee. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 11 nurses having more than 2 years of working experience in intensive care units. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted to analyze the data.@*RESULTS@#Four super-ordinate and nine sub-ordinate themes were identified. Emerged super-ordinate themes were as follows: (1) encountering a live person via patient monitoring systems; (2) deep empathic connection; (3) humanistic and compassionate care, and (4) accompanying the journey to the end. Study findings revealed that nurses in intensive care units experienced ‘balancing emotions’ and ‘authenticity’ in caring when entering human-to-human relationships with dying patients. The phenomenon of person-centered relational care in intensive care units was found to subsume intrinsic attributes of empathy, compassion, and trust, similar to the central concepts of Travelbee's theory.@*CONCLUSION@#The interpretative findings in this study provide deeper understanding of Travelbee's human-to-human relationship model. The technological environment in intensive care units did not hinder experienced nurses from forming human-to-human relationships. These themes need to be emphasized in critical care nursing education as well as in nursing management. The results of this study will contribute to understanding nurse-patient caring relationships in depth, and help improve the quality of nursing care in intensive care units.

Person-Centered Relational Care Experienced by Critical Care Nurses: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Study

PURPOSE: The aim of the study was to explore nurses' experience of person-centered relational care in the context of critical care. METHODS: Key interview questions were developed based on the human-to-human relationship model suggested by Travelbee. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of 11 nurses having more than 2 years of working experience in intensive care units. An interpretative phenomenological analysis was conducted to analyze the data. RESULTS: Four super-ordinate and nine sub-ordinate themes were identified. Emerged super-ordinate themes were as follows: (1) encountering a live person via patient monitoring systems; (2) deep empathic connection; (3) humanistic and compassionate care, and (4) accompanying the journey to the end. Study findings revealed that nurses in intensive care units experienced ‘balancing emotions’ and ‘authenticity’ in caring when entering human-to-human relationships with dying patients. The phenomenon of person-centered relational care in intensive care units was found to subsume intrinsic attributes of empathy, compassion, and trust, similar to the central concepts of Travelbee's theory. CONCLUSION: The interpretative findings in this study provide deeper understanding of Travelbee's human-to-human relationship model. The technological environment in intensive care units did not hinder experienced nurses from forming human-to-human relationships. These themes need to be emphasized in critical care nursing education as well as in nursing management. The results of this study will contribute to understanding nurse-patient caring relationships in depth, and help improve the quality of nursing care in intensive care units.

The Effect of Biofeedback-Assisted Relaxation on the Clinical Symptoms and Stress Responses in Patients with Chronic Headache / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the effect of biofeedback treatment on the clinical symptoms and stress responses in chronic headache patients. METHODS : We recruited 18 chronic headache patients who were treated with 8 sessions of biofeedback treatment and 18 age and sex-matched control headache patients. All subjects consisted of patients with chronic tension headache and migraine headache. Stress responses were measured using Symptoms of stress (SOS) inventory and all subjects performed Beck depression inventory (BDI), Spielberger state anxiety inventory (STAIS), and visual analogue scale (VAS). Biofeedback physiological variables including frontal and forearm EMG, electrodermal response (EDR) and skin temperature at pre-and post-treatment were also measured in all subjects. RESULTS : Compared with control patients, patients on biofeedback treatment showed significant reduction in scores of STAIS (t=3.705, p<.001), and VAS (t=3.392, p=.001) as well as SOS subscales;peripheral manifestations (t=1.788, p=.042), habitual patterns (t=2.008, p=.027), depression (t=2.081, p=.023), anxiety (t=1.990, p=.028), and total score (t=2.045, p=.025). There was a significant increase of skin temperature (t=-1.835, p=.038) only in the biofeedback treatment group. CONCLUSION : These results suggest that biofeedback treatment may be effective in relieving chronic headache by reducing psychological and physiological stress responses.