title: The impact of premature menopause on women's experience of self.
abstract: Surgically or chemically induced premature menopause may have an impact on women's sense of self: the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual sense of self. This ethnographic research study explores the major factors that assaulted prematurely menopausal women's concept of self and the ways in which they attempted to readjust that concept. A unifying domain, evolution of self, and three constitutive themes emerged: change/loss, connectedness/disconnectedness, and transcendence/transformation. A holistic nurse-client relationship that transcends the hospital experience and extends into the community may help prematurely menopausal women to move toward a more synthesized sense of self and a greater degree of self-actualization.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York, USA.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Pasquali
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001828:Body Image; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D018939:Holistic Nursing / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008594:Menopause, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D012649:Self Concept; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*