Tensions in the personal world of the nurse family carer: A phenomenological approach

Abstract

The incidence of chronic illness is growing globally. As a result, there are fiscal and social implications for health delivery. Alongside the increased burden on health resources is the expectation that someone within the family will assume the responsibility of carer for those who are chronically ill. The expectation to assume the role of carer may be amplified for family members who are also nurses. Currently, there is little research that investigates the impact of nurses who are carers for family with a chronic illness. Consequently, this qualitative study, based on face-to-face and telephone dialogue, was conducted using unstructured interviews. A phenomenologicalhermeneutic approach utilizing the hermeneutic circle was employed to understand the meaning of the transcriptions. Hermeneutic phenomenology inspired by Heideggerian philosophy was used as a framework to clarify themes and build ways of understanding the phenomenon of 'Being' a nurse and a family carer. Themes identified in the analysis of the study included a personal world, a professional world and a practical world. This paper explicates the findings from examination of the personal world of 'Being' a nurse who is also a family carer. Analysis revealed there were three facets to this way of 'Being': a shared experience, a caring experience and a fraught experience. The findings of the study disclosed that participants were informed by experiences that were both enriching and conflicting. These insights can enlighten healthcare professionals to the tensions which exist for nurses who care for family so that these considerations are incorporated into individualized and effective familycentred care. K E Y W O R D Scarers, chronic illness, Heidegger, Hermeneutics, phenomenology

The impact on organizations, individuals, and care when nurses are also family caregivers

“…For instance, it may be easy to mix professional and personal feelings/roles when providing similar patient and family care (Cicchelli & McLeod, 2011;Ward-Griffin et al, 2015). Healthcare workers also may experience unreasonable expectations from other family members and healthcare providers (e.g., they will be able to navigate any healthcare system) in their role as a double-duty caregiver and how they are expected to provide care (Brindley, 2018;Cicchelli & McLeod, 2011;Quinney et al, 2018). Double-duty caregivers also have no respite from caregiving.…”

A Heideggerian analysis of good care in an acute hospital setting: Insights from healthcare workers, patients and families

“…Staff spoke of recognising that for family members, it was essential to be noticed and affirmed as significant caregivers and that exclusion was potentially harmful. The significance of this recognition was also evidenced in Quinney et al's (2018) study of nurses who provide long‐term care for a family member. In our study, family members appeared to consider that caring for loved ones was a fundamental reciprocal practice and that they also had an advocacy role.…”

“…This orientation endeavours to disrupt episodic, siloed biomedical care (Angel, 2022; Byrne et al, 2021; White et al, 2021). Care partnerships between professionals and families have a significantly positive impact on families' perceptions of good care when family members' expertise about their loved one is recognised (Andersen et al, 2020; Quinney et al, 2018).…”