Beck C T
College of Nursing, University of Rhode Island, Kingston 02881-0814, USA.
J Adv Nurs. 1996 May;23(5):992-8. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.1996.09819.x.
Over the next half century the population of moderately to severely demented individuals is projected to nearly triple. Because high complex technology is usually not required in the care of cognitively impaired elderly people, these individuals may be the first patients nursing students are assigned to care for. Despite the fact that these elderly people do not require "high tech' care, their nursing care can be extremely challenging for nursing students. In order to help prepare nursing students to meet this challenge, a phenomenological study was conducted to describe the meaning of nursing students' experiences caring for cognitively impaired elderly people. Thirty-seven undergraduate nursing students participated in the study. Each student described in writing an experience he/she had had while caring for a cognitively impaired elderly person. Using Colaizzi's phenomenological method to analyse these descriptions, five themes emerged. Nursing students experienced a myriad of emotions such as frustration, sadness, fear and empathy. Caring for cognitively impaired elderly people presented difficult challenges for nursing students to overcome. Because of the difficulties encountered in caring for confused elderly people, nursing students utilized multiple nursing care approaches. As a result of giving care to elderly people suffering from dementia, negative consequences ensued for some nursing students. The positive outweighed the negative consequences in the phenomenological study. Implications for nurse educators are addressed.
在接下来的半个世纪里，中度至重度痴呆患者的数量预计将增加近两倍。由于在照顾认知受损的老年人时通常不需要高科技，这些患者可能是护理专业学生最初被安排照顾的对象。尽管这些老年人不需要“高科技”护理，但对护理专业学生来说，他们的护理工作极具挑战性。为了帮助护理专业学生应对这一挑战，开展了一项现象学研究，以描述护理专业学生照顾认知受损老年人经历的意义。37名本科护理专业学生参与了该研究。每位学生都书面描述了自己在照顾认知受损老年人时的一次经历。运用科莱齐的现象学方法分析这些描述后，出现了五个主题。护理专业学生经历了一系列情绪，如沮丧、悲伤、恐惧和同理心。照顾认知受损的老年人给护理专业学生带来了难以克服的挑战。由于在照顾神志不清的老年人时遇到困难，护理专业学生采用了多种护理方法。由于照顾患有痴呆症的老年人，一些护理专业学生产生了负面后果。在现象学研究中，积极影响超过了负面影响。文中还探讨了对护理教育工作者的启示。
