title: "Lighthouse in the dark": a qualitative study of the role of breast care nurse specialists in Israel.
abstract: This study gains insight into the role of the breast care nurse specialist through an analysis of thank you letters written by women with breast cancer in a tertiary hospital in Israel. Descriptive content analysis was used to analyze 125 thank you letters. The findings revealed three aspects of the role of the breast care nurse specialist: instrumental, cognitive, and emotional. The women described these aspects as "paving the way through bureaucracy" (instrumental), being a "traffic light at a crossroad in life" (cognitive), and treating each one of them "as if I am your only patient" (emotional). This analysis highlighted the significance of the breast care nurse specialist in a holistic and integrative role that fills a gap within the biomedical healthcare system. Transferability of the findings to other nurse specialist roles in different clinical settings should be investigated.
authors.affiliation: Rambam-Health Care Campus, Haifa Department of Communication, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. h_admi@rambam.health.gov.il
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Admi
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zohar
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rudner
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008875:Middle Aged; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000523:psychology*; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D016387:Women's Health