Municipal night nurses' experience of the meaning of caring.

Full Abstract

The aim of this study was to elucidate municipal night registered nurses' (RNs) experiences of the meaning of caring in nursing. The research context involved all night duty RNs working in municipal care of older people in a medium-sized municipality located in central Sweden. The meaning of caring in nursing was experienced as: caring for by advocacy, superior responsibility in caring, and consultative nursing service. The municipal night RNs' experience of caring is interpreted as meanings in paradoxes: 'being close at distance', the condition of 'being responsible with insignificant control', and 'being interdependently independent'. The RNs' experience of the meaning of caring involves focusing on the care recipient by advocating their perspectives. The meaning of caring in this context is an endeavour to grasp an overall caring responsibility by responding to vocational and personal demands regarding the issue of being a RN, in guaranteeing ethical, qualitative and competent care for older people.

Author information

Author/s: Gustafsson, Christine (C); Asp, Margareta (M); Fagerberg, Ingegerd (I);

Affiliation: Mälardalen University, School of Health Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, Eskilstuna, Sweden. christine.gustafsson(-atsign-)mdh.se

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Nursing ethics (Nurs Ethics), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 16 (issue 5) : pp 599-612

Dates: Created 2009/08/12; Completed 2009/10/29;

PMID: 19671646, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/29/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.