Phenomenological research is increasing in popularity in nursing research for good reason. The qualitative research method allows an in-depth exploration of patient lived experience. This knowledge has the potential to enhance quality of holistic patient care. To undertake this method of inquiry, however, it is imperative that holistic nurse researchers understand the philosophical underpinnings of the method and are familiar with the two major types of phenomenology in order to approach the study in a scholarly manner. The purpose of this article is to explicate the method’s historical roots of phenomenology, its evolution, its two major traditions and their differences, and some of the specialized terminology unique to phenomenology’s jargon so that their studies can contribute to sound nursing science and complete patient care.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic overwhelmed the New York City area upon its arrival in the United States. Hospitals were unprepared to handle the influx of patients. Methods This study explored nurse/nurse practitioner experiences when caring for COVID-19 patients in New York metropolitan hospitals, concentrating on physical well-being. Data collection involved in-depth interviews with eight participants. Findings (A) physical safety of self, family members, colleagues, and patients greatly concerned participants; (B) caring for COVID-19 patients led to participants’ physical exhaustion; and (C) most participants’ sleep was impacted when caring for COVID-19 patients. Conclusions This study identified issues involving U.S. health care workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, namely availability of personal protective equipment, lack of centralized knowledge-sharing capabilities, sleep problems, anxiety regarding physical safety of self and others, and insufficient/undertrained staffing. It serves as a foundation for future research and calls for changes in U.S. hospital policies and procedures during crises.

Traditional higher education instruction involves an

Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret the interpersonal and intragroup conflict experiences of staff-level employees and leaders in the medical imaging technology field, working in US tertiary care centers to extract mitigation and management strategies. Design/methodology/approach A total of 13 medical imaging technologists, who were employed in leadership and staff positions throughout the USA, offered their in-depth accounts of workplace conflict in this interpretive phenomenological investigation. Findings Conflict avoidance was a predominant conflict management style. This style did little to effectively manage workplace conflict. In some cases, it led to deleterious effects on individuals and organizations and created conflict perpetuation. With proper conflict mitigation and management, the conflict perpetuation cycle can be broken. Research limitations/implications Generalization beyond the group being studied is not applicable, as it is not the intent of phenomenological research. Four leaders participated in the research study. To examine this population more completely, a greater sample size is required. This recommendation also applies to the staff technologist roles. Another limitation involved the leader/staff-level representation inequality, as well as the male–female representation. These imbalances made it difficult to effectively make comparisons of the experiences of leaders with staff-level technologists, and males with females. Practical implications Offering the medical imaging workforce emotional intelligence training, health-care administrators can invest in their leaders and staff technologists. Medical imaging schools can incorporate emotional intelligence training into their curricula. Clear policies may decrease the ill effects of change when unforeseeable occurrences result in schedule modifications. Making technologists fully aware of who is responsible for shift coverage when these events occur may reduce negative impact. Trainings in organizational change, collaboration or positivity may be warranted, depending on findings of cultural assessments. Team-building events and opportunities for employees to intermingle may also be used to improve a departmental or organizational culture. Social implications Mitigating and managing health-care workplace conflict more effectively may prevent patient harm, thus improving the health of members of society. Originality/value According to recent studies, conflict, and the incivility that often accompanies it, has been on the increase in US organizations overall, and in health care specifically. Conflict that perpetuates can adversely affect health-care organizations and its employees. This paper offers mitigation and management strategies to prevent such consequences.

As concerns about the skyrocketing costs of a college degree have converged with the increasing availability of open educational resources (OER), higher education administrators are asking faculty and curriculum designers to use OERs to design courses and programs. This case study explores the decision degree programs using open educational resources. The paper concludes with a list of suggested criteriafor evaluating open source content when designing similar programs.