Qualitative health research
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Uncertainty is a central theme in the cancer survivorship and coping literature. Existing research on cancer-related uncertainty has primarily documented the adverse effects of existential uncertainty on survivors' well-being and located uncertainty within the stress and coping paradigm. ⋯ The findings suggest that although uncertainty can be a source of distress, it can also be a catalyst for growth, a deepened appreciation for life, greater awareness of life purpose, development of confidence and resilience, and optimism. The results suggest that uncertainty is a dialectic phenomenon located within larger contexts of both stress and coping, and psychospiritual growth.
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Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia are characterized by being difficult to diagnose and having an elusive etiology and no clear-cut treatment strategy. The question of whether these illnesses are stigmatizing was investigated through interviews with 25 women with these illnesses. ⋯ Stigma consisted of questioning the veracity, morality, and accuracy of patient symptom descriptions and of psychologizing symptoms. Coping with stigma was also explored and found to comprise both withdrawal and approach strategies, depending on the individual's circumstances and goals.
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It is estimated that more than half of pediatric hospital emergency department (ED) visits are medically nonurgent. Anecdotal impressions suggest that ED providers castigate medically nonurgent visits, yet studies on such visits are scarce. ⋯ Three provider ideologies regarding the appropriateness of medically nonurgent ED use were identified and found to be linked to particular communication strategies that providers employed with ED users: restrictive, pragmatic, and all-inclusive. The analysis resulted in the development of a typology of provider ideological orientations toward ED use, distinguished according to different orientations toward professional dominance.
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The study described in this article sought to examine the workings of an interdisciplinary team as a research entity and as a service provider. There were two levels of analysis in the study: the process of collaborating on the research and the results of the research observation of an interdisciplinary team in a clinical setting. ⋯ The data were collected through intensive interviews, direct observations of the family and team members, and selected videotaping of team meetings. Qualitative data analysis methods were used, and five themes emerged: who takes the lead, the classroom as a way station, we like our freedom but..., who is giving and who is taking advice, and communication comes in few forms.
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The nursing care for patients who are pronounced brain-dead but kept alive to serve as organ donors demands technical-scientific skills and the ability to handle situations that are often in conflict with the traditional concepts of nursing care. Based on the phenomenological approach in this article, essential themes of the lived experience of caring for these patients, including the technical and specific nursing care, the relationship with organ donors and their families, and the nurses' perception of themselves in this professional situation are described. The results point to the contradictions and ambiguities of this type of nursing, especially in regards to the affective and philosophical aspects.