Hodges Pamela J
The University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Nursing, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Crit Care Nurs Q. 2009 Apr-Jun;32(2):163-70. doi: 10.1097/CNQ.0b013e3181a28041.
Life purpose is an important thread of critical care nursing. However, no consensus exists for a definition of life purpose. In addition, ambiguity prevails regarding the manner in which life purpose is incorporated into nursing practice and research. Therefore, through a conceptual synthesis process, this article aims to clarify the essence of life purpose with relevance to health and critical care nursing today. The outcome of the conceptual synthesis is an operational definition to be used in future nursing research. Information was obtained from a literature search of scholarly articles using (1) searches of electronic databases of literature about life purpose and (2) research studies addressing conceptual, substantive, and methodological domains. Topics consisted of the philosophical underpinnings of life purpose, its attributes, definitions, and theoretical frameworks, along with differences in theories and empirical support. Finally, emerging from this process, the article culminates with a proposed conceptual definition of life purpose, which may be applied broadly to older adults in various critical care settings.
生活目的是重症护理的一个重要方面。然而，对于生活目的的定义尚未达成共识。此外，关于生活目的如何融入护理实践和研究，也存在模糊之处。因此，通过概念综合过程，本文旨在阐明与当今健康和重症护理相关的生活目的的本质。概念综合的结果是一个将用于未来护理研究的操作性定义。通过以下方式从学术文章的文献检索中获取信息：（1）搜索关于生活目的的文献电子数据库，以及（2）针对概念、实质和方法领域的研究。主题包括生活目的的哲学基础、其属性、定义和理论框架，以及理论差异和实证支持。最后，经过这个过程，本文最终提出了一个生活目的的概念定义，该定义可广泛应用于各种重症护理环境中的老年人。
