Dataset Information

The lived experience of family caregivers caring for patients dependent on life-sustaining technologies.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of the lived experience of family caregivers caring for their loved ones who were dependent upon life-sustaining technologies while in the hospital.

Methods

This study followed van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach to generate and analyze data to describe the experience of ten family caregivers who met the following inclusion criteria: a family member who participated actively in caring for the loved one who was dependent upon technologies for human care. Data were collected using individual in-depth interviews. The interview transcriptions were analyzed using van Manen's phenomenological approach, while Lincoln and Guba's criteria were used to establish trustworthiness of the study.

Findings

Four thematic categories structured the meaning of the experience: Being an invisible person; supporting patients' wholeness; struggling to trust technologies for human care; and living in uncertainty. These thematic categories were reflective of Van Manen's four lived worlds of body, relation, space, and time.

Conclusion

Understanding the experience of family caregivers challenges nurses to express their technological competencies in caring more fully in their human care. Locsin's theory of Technological Competency as Caring in Nursing was used to explain and describe the meaning of the experiences of family caregivers caring for patients who were dependent upon technologies for human care, and foster nursing practice as caring in nursing.

SUBMITTER: Kongsuwan W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6626285 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The lived experience of family caregivers caring for patients dependent on life-sustaining technologies.

Kongsuwan Waraporn W Borvornluck Pongpaka P Locsin Rozzano C RC

International journal of nursing sciences 20180922 4

<h4>Purpose</h4>The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of the lived experience of family caregivers caring for their loved ones who were dependent upon life-sustaining technologies while in the hospital.<h4>Methods</h4>This study followed van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological approach to generate and analyze data to describe the experience of ten family caregivers who met the following inclusion criteria: a family member who participated actively in caring for the loved one who ...[more]

PMID: 31406849

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Project description:Brain death is a concept in which its criteria have been expressed as documentations in Harvard Committee of Brain Death. The various perceptions of caregiver nurses for brain death patients may have effect on the chance of converting potential donors into actual organ donors.The present study has been conducted in order to perceive the experiences of nurses in care-giving to the brain death of organ donor patients.This qualitative study was carried out by means of Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology. Eight nurses who have been working in ICU were interviewed. The semi-structured interviews were recorded bya tape-recorder and the given texts were transcribed and the analyses were done by Van-Mannen methodology and (thematic) analysis.One of the foremost themes extracted from this study included 'Halo of ambiguity and doubt' that comprised of two sub-themes of 'having unreasonable hope' and 'Conservative acceptance of brain death'. The unreasonable hope included lack of trust (uncertainty) in diagnosis and verification of brain death, passing through denial wall, and avoidance from explicit and direct disclosure of brain death in patients' family. In this investigation, the nurses were involved in a type of ambiguity and doubt in care-giving to the potentially brain death of organ donor patients, which were also evident in their interaction with patients' family and for this reason, they did not definitely announce the brain death and so far they hoped for treatment of the given patient. Such confusion and hesitance both caused annoyance of nurses and strengthening the denial of patients' family to be exposed to death.The results of this study reveal the fundamental perceived care-giving of brain death in organ donor patients and led to developing some strategies to improve care-giving and achievement in donation of the given organ and necessity for presentation of educational and supportive services for nurses might become more evident than ever.

Dataset Information

The lived experience of family caregivers caring for patients dependent on life-sustaining technologies.

Purpose

Methods

Findings

Conclusion

Publications

The lived experience of family caregivers caring for patients dependent on life-sustaining technologies.

Similar Datasets

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