title: Meaning in bone marrow transplant nurses' work: experiences before and after a "meaning-centered" intervention.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  When a clinical culture emphasizes cure, as in bone marrow transplantation (BMT) services, BMT nurses commonly experience enormous stress when patients are suffering or dying. In this context, it is unclear what meanings BMT nurses experience in their work and how they find meaning and sustain hope, given conflicting responsibilities to patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to explore BMT nurses' experiences of meaning and hope and the effects of a meaning-centered intervention (MCI) on these experiences using qualitative methodology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen BMT nurses engaged in a 5-session MCI, with 7 members each participating in 2 groups. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted at 1 month before and after the intervention. Interpretive phenomenology guided data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BMT nurses in the Princess Margaret Hospital experienced meaning in their involvement with their patients' suffering. The MCI seemed to inspire participants to engage more with patients and their suffering. Three subthemes reflected this influence: (a) greater awareness of boundaries between their personal and professional involvement, (b) enhanced empathy from an awareness of a shared mortality, and (c) elevated hope when nurses linked patients' suffering with meaning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirms that patients' suffering constitutes nurses' search for meaning and hope in their work. The MCI offers a way in which to actively support nurses in this process.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Nurses can learn to be more responsive to patients' suffering beyond limits of cure. A minimal intervention, such as the MCI, supports BMT nurses in finding positive personal meaning and purpose in their otherwise highly stressful work culture.
authors: Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. doris.leung@utoronto.ca
authors: Doris
authors: D
authors: Leung
authors: Lise
authors: L
authors: Fillion
authors: Stéphane
authors: S
authors: Duval
authors: Jocelyn
authors: J
authors: Brown
authors: Gary
authors: G
authors: Rodin
authors: Doris
authors: D
authors: Howell
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D055815:Young Adult