Engelsk titel: Healthcare personnel as a source of comfort in recurrent ovarian cancer
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Författare:
Breistig, Sigrund
;
Huser, Benny
Email: sibr@hvl.no
Språk: Nor
Antal referenser: 20
Dokumenttyp:
Artikel
UI-nummer: 19120124
Sammanfattning
Background: The lives of women with recurrent ovarian cancer are marked by considerable existential distress. There is little specific knowledge about actions that nurses can take as they encounter these women, to relieve their existential distress.
Objective: The objective of this study is to identify potential sources of comfort for women with recurrent ovarian cancer, and to establish what nurses may be able to do to provide solace.
Method: We have adopted a qualitative method involving hermeneutic textual analysis. The study is based on deep interviews with five women, conducted after a three-week period of diary-keeping.
Results: Four main themes were found to provide comfort: hope of a future, being recognised, genuine presence, and self-preservation. Of these, ‘hope of a future’ was the most effective: hoping to be able to live for longer, to recover and to continue being important to other people. ‘Being recognised’ refers to being seen and remembered by healthcare personnel, and appreciating that life has a worth. ‘Genuine presence’ refers to healthcare personnel and other fellow human beings who provide comfort by being genuine and honest, for better or worse. ‘Self-preservation’ is a coping strategy that involves avoiding other people who are ill, and who may therefore provide a reminder of the seriousness of the disease.
Conclusion: Through diary entries and deep interviews, women with recurrent ovarian cancer talked openly about and reflected on what gave them solace. Our findings show that inter-human relationships are essential to finding meaning and worth in life. The study has implications for practice: Patients feel reassured when hospital staff recognise them. Awareness of one’s own role as a healthcare worker is important, as is being genuine and honest, and being knowledgeable about how to communicate. Who you are as a nurse, can provide consolation. Future studies should investigate existential comfort in greater depth and examine how this topic may be incorporated into the degree programme for nurses.