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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
The Lived Experience Of Losing Employment After Diagnosis With Dementia: A Phenomenological Analysis, Susan K. Blaine
The Lived Experience Of Losing Employment After Diagnosis With Dementia: A Phenomenological Analysis, Susan K. Blaine
Doctoral Dissertations
The purpose of this study was describing the experiences of people with dementia (PWD) who lose their employment after diagnosis with dementia, but sooner than originally planned. A phenomenological approach based on tenets of Maurice Merleau-Ponty was used. Six telephone interviews were conducted, with participants sharing their experiences. Transcripts were transcribed verbatim, and subsequently analyzed via a hermeneutical analysis approach. Themes were identified within and between transcripts, considering the contextual grounds of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology: body, others, time, and world, and the contextual ground of participants’ experience: the stigma of dementia. An overarching, central theme of “still working” was identified across …
“You Came To Not Normal Land”: Nurses' Experience Of The Environment Of Disaster: A Phenomenological Investigation, Stasia Elizabeth Ruskie
“You Came To Not Normal Land”: Nurses' Experience Of The Environment Of Disaster: A Phenomenological Investigation, Stasia Elizabeth Ruskie
Doctoral Dissertations
Previous research suggests US nurses are unprepared for disaster, and suffer from adverse psychosocial outcomes following their disaster response. Current disaster preparedness focuses on providing hospital-centric trauma and acute care in fully resourced Western conditions, and does not include the environmental realities of the disaster setting. This study utilized an existential phenomenological approach to explore the meaning of the nurse’s experience of the disaster environment. Eleven nurses with broad disaster expertise and training levels participated in this research. The essence of their disaster experiences can be summed up by the central theme of “You came to not normal land.” Four …
The Lived Experience Of Transitioning From The Foster Care System To Adulthood, Carla Renee Parker
The Lived Experience Of Transitioning From The Foster Care System To Adulthood, Carla Renee Parker
Doctoral Dissertations
Approximately 408,000 children were in foster care in the United States at the end of fiscal year 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Some children return to their families of origin; however, some children remain in the foster care system until they reach age 18 or 21 and must leave, which is called “emancipation” or “aging out” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). Transitioning foster youth are at risk for many negative consequences including poverty and homelessness. These negative consequences are associated with significant health implications, such as mental health problems and risky sexual behaviors. …
Merleau-Ponty And James Agee: Guides To The Novice Phenomenologist, Sandra Thomas
Merleau-Ponty And James Agee: Guides To The Novice Phenomenologist, Sandra Thomas
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
No abstract provided.
"Take My Hand, Help Me Out:" Mental Health Recipients' Experience Of The Therapeutic Relationship, M.M. Shattell, S.S. Starr, Sandra Thomas
"Take My Hand, Help Me Out:" Mental Health Recipients' Experience Of The Therapeutic Relationship, M.M. Shattell, S.S. Starr, Sandra Thomas
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
The purpose of this study was to describe mental health service recipients' experience of the therapeutic relationship. The research question was ‘what is therapeutic about the therapeutic relationship?’ This study was a secondary analysis of qualitative interviews conducted with persons with mental illness as part of a study of the experience of being understood. This secondary analysis used data from 20 interviews with community-dwelling adults with mental illness, who were asked to talk about the experience of being understood by a health-care provider. Data were analysed using an existential phenomenological approach. Individuals experienced therapeutic relationships against a backdrop of challenges, …
Nurses' Narratives Of Unforgettable Patient Care Events, M.E. Gunther, Sandra Thomas
Nurses' Narratives Of Unforgettable Patient Care Events, M.E. Gunther, Sandra Thomas
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
Purpose: To explore the experience of registered nurses (RNs) caring for patients in contemporary hospitals. Design: The descriptive phenomenological study was based in the philosophical perspectives of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. Methods: A purposive sample of 46 RNs employed in acute care hospitals in the southeastern United States (US) were recruited by network sampling. Data from unstructured interviews were analyzed in an interpretive group and themes were identified. Findings: Four themes were identified: (a) extraordinary caregiving events, (b) incomprehensibility, (c) questioning whether anything else could have been done, and (d) “alone or together,” indicating the isolation nurses often experience while giving …
Through The Lens Of Merleau-Ponty:Advancing The Phenomenological Approach To Nursing Research, Sandra Thomas
Through The Lens Of Merleau-Ponty:Advancing The Phenomenological Approach To Nursing Research, Sandra Thomas
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
No abstract provided.
An Exploration Of Problematic Interviewee Behaviors In Qualitative Research, M. Collins, M. Shattell, Sandra Thomas
An Exploration Of Problematic Interviewee Behaviors In Qualitative Research, M. Collins, M. Shattell, Sandra Thomas
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
The interview is a staple of many qualitative approaches. Although textbooks offer extensive guidance to researchers about conducting interviews, less guidance is available about problematic interviewee behaviors, such as flattery or statements indicative of social desirability response bias. In this study, a secondary analysis of 22 phenomenological interview transcripts, we sought to examine problematic interviewee behaviors. More than 300 pages of typed text were subjected to line-by-line scrutiny, yielding only six potential instances of the phenomenon. Each could be interpreted several ways. What appeared to be flattery could also be perceived as simple gratitude or appreciation. We concluded that problematic …
What's Therapeutic About The Therapeutic Milieu?, Sandra Thomas, M. Shattell, T. Martin
What's Therapeutic About The Therapeutic Milieu?, Sandra Thomas, M. Shattell, T. Martin
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
While the milieu of an inpatient facility is considered a treatment modality, extant literature focuses on the staff's role in creating the milieu rather than the patient's perception of it. Not since Goffman's Asylums (1961) has there been an in-depth examination of the phenomenal world of the hospitalized psychiatric patient. In this study, eight inpatients (ages 23 to 58) on the acute psychiatric unit of a metropolitan general hospital participated in phenomenological interviews about their experience of the environment. The essential meaning of the hospital was refuge from self-destructiveness. Prominent aspects of patients' experience within the place of refuge were …
A Phenomenological Study Of The Experience Of The Spouse Of A Heart Transplant Recipient, A.H. Mccurry, Sandra Thomas
A Phenomenological Study Of The Experience Of The Spouse Of A Heart Transplant Recipient, A.H. Mccurry, Sandra Thomas
Faculty Publications and Other Works -- Nursing
In this phenomenological study, in-depth interviews were used to obtain a description of spouses’ experiences in heart transplantation. Thematic analysis of the transcripts revealed four major, interrelated themes: death-life, vigilance, change, and gift. The experience was contextualized by the existential grounds of time and other people. Findings suggested that the changes inherent in the transplant experience have not been fully described in previous studies. The theme of death-life was dominant and pervasive in all interviews. As the threat of their husbands’ deaths became less prominent, wives reported difficulty letting go of their vigilance. Although the most outstanding gift was that …