ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth description of the experience of making the decision to place a family member in a special care unit among a diverse sample of family caregivers. To achieve purposive maximum variation of the sample, the sample of 30 family caregivers was chosen from an original study of 256 family caregivers. The sample was randomly stratified according to ethnicity, gender, and relationship to the care receiver. Three independent researchers used Luborsky's method of thematic analysis to analyze the interviews. After mutual consensus, 1565 themes (descriptive statements) were identified and synthesized into 21 topics. The topics were then synthesized into four patterns describing the decision-making experience: moving toward the unavoidable decision, struggling with the decision, seeking reassurance, and remaining connected.
Subject(s)
Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Alzheimer Disease/rehabilitation , Caregivers/psychology , Decision Making , Long-Term Care , Nursing Homes , Adult , Aged , Female , Health Services for the Aged , Hospital Units , Humans , Interviews as Topic , Male , Middle Aged , Midwestern United States , Outcome Assessment, Health CareABSTRACT
The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of caring for a family member with Alzheimer's disease or related disorder (ADRD) living at home among a diverse sample of 103 family caregivers. The study involved secondary analysis of in-depth transcribed interview data using van Kaam's rigorous four phase, 12-step psychophenomenological method. A total of 2,115 descriptive expressions were categorized into 38 preliminary structural elements. Eight essential structural elements emerged from an analysis of the preliminary structural elements. The eight elements were then synthesized to form the following synthetic structural definition: Caring for a family member living at home with ADRD was experienced as "being immersed in caregiving; enduring stress and frustration; suffering through the losses; integrating ADRD into our lives and preserving integrity; gathering support; moving with continuous change; and finding meaning and joy."
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Alzheimer Disease/nursing , Alzheimer Disease/psychology , Attitude to Health , Caregivers/psychology , Empathy , Family/psychology , Home Nursing/psychology , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cost of Illness , Female , Grief , Home Nursing/methods , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Middle Aged , Nursing Methodology Research , Social Support , Stress, Psychological/etiology , Stress, Psychological/prevention & control , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
This article demonstrates three major nursing theories in practice. The uniqueness of each theory is clarified through the presentation of nursing formulations and practice implications. The discussion provides a metaperspective of how practice based in nursing theory is different from traditional practice and how nursing theory can guide practice.
Subject(s)
Models, Nursing , Nursing Care/methods , Nursing Records/standards , Humans , Patient Care Planning/standardsABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to explore the overview effect, an experience evoked by space travel that has the capacity to transform all patterns of human existence and evolution toward greater potentials in human diversity and creativity. As nurses migrate with humanity into the solar system and beyond, they will experience the overview effect. The core components of the effect include changed perceptions of space, time, sound, and weight which have the potential to transform the evolution of nursing science. Nursing paradigms will encompass a view of humanity as integral with an infinite evolutionary universe. After generations of living in space in a diversity of new environments, the physical body will undergo radical changes, and the meaning of health will be transformed. The article concludes with a discussion on the parallels between Rogers' science of unitary human beings and the overview effect.
