Family response to difficult hospitalizations: the phenomenon of 'working through'.
This paper describes the process and outcomes of a project to learn about qualitative research methods. A small study of family participation in decision-making was conducted with 7 family members who were interviewed after an inter-unit patient transfer. The data analysis used strategies derived from grounded theory, family life-cycle framework and storytelling. The interviews indicated respondents' concerns about the patient, their efforts to balance their lives during a time of disarray and their sorting through crises in their lives ('working through'). 'Working through' discourse has identifiable features, including: linking the past, present and future; refrains; rhetorical questions; and self-talk. Clinicians should encourage the 'working through' process by family during the hospitalization of a family member.
Buttery
J
J
Montreal General Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
Eades
M
M
Frisch
S
S
Giguère
M
M
Mountjoy
A
A
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires