ABSTRACT
Uncertainty is a universal experience of family caregivers caring for persons with a stroke and affects caregivers' readiness to care for their family members with a stroke. Guided by the unitary caring theory and unitary-caring hermeneutic-phenomenological research method, this study was conducted among 15 family caregivers of persons in the hospital who have survived strokes through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Five essences emerged from the analysis: living in a dark reality; yearning for professional support; enduring a life full of tribulations; attempting resolution; and creating new patterns of living. Each of the 5 essences was interpreted from Smith's unitary caring theory perspective.
Subject(s)
Caregivers , Stroke , Humans , Saudi Arabia , Uncertainty , Family , Stroke/therapy , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of the experience of Saudi informal family caregivers of hospitalized patients who have experienced a stroke. In-depth, face-to-face, semistructured interviews of five family caregivers using open-ended questions were conducted in a major hospital in Saudi Arabia. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the unitary-caring hermeneutic phenomenological research method. Data analysis revealed six major essences that were synthesized into one statement reflecting the essence of caring for a family member with a stroke in Saudi Arabia: Living with the uncertainty of ambiguity amid feeling distressed with worries and fears replete with unfulfilled desires while yearning for compassionate caring and overcoming uncertainties through connections and faith honoring abiding commitments. As a means to transform the findings into theory and language of the nursing discipline, the essences were then interpreted within the theory of unitary caring.
