Nurses' experiences of caring for their own family members.
There is a wealth of literature that addresses the needs of informal caregivers and the needs of health professionals caring for someone with a life-threatening illness. However, there is a paucity of research that deals with nurses who are caring for their own relative who has a life-threatening illness. This qualitative study explores the information needs, support systems available, and the impact that this experience has upon the nurse's quality of life. Individual semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (Smith and Osbourne, 2003). Four superordinate themes emerged from the data: quality of life, personal and professional boundaries, disempowerment and positive aspects to the role. These themes were then linked to validated models of caregiving (Caron and Bowers 2003; Sherwood et al, 2004) to further explore their impact upon the nurse in his/her role as family carer. This study has established that nurses providing care for their own relatives have specific needs with regard to their dual role as a health professional and family carer. In understanding these specific needs, it may be possible to provide a more effective and equal level of support for these individuals. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.
Jayne
J
Mills
Aimee
A
Aubeeluck
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000941:ethics; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D017281:Cost of Illness; D004645:Empathy; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000941:ethics / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011209:Power, Psychological; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology