title: Coping with the emotional demands of caring.
abstract: A grounded theory investigation produced a model for how caregivers are affected by the experience of caring. Whether nurses felt fulfilled by caring or traumatized by the risks of personal loss and emotional overload was determined by the meanings they were able to create from the experience. These meanings were derived from both inner personal resources as well as contextual resources. Positive meanings produced an alchemical effect described as a "peak experience," which reinforced engagement and the commitment to caring. Negative meanings associated with emotional depletion and trauma lead to disengagement and withdrawal from caring. Implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA.
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D017028:Caregivers; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D009742:Nursing Theory; D013315:Stress, Psychological