BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:Compassion is an essential component of nursing education. Having nursing students describe situations in which they were treated with compassion may offer guidance for faculty. The purpose of the study was to uncover themes in descriptions of undergraduate nursing students who described self as being treated with compassion during their Baccalaureate nursing education.METHOD:Conventional content analysis was the method used in the study.RESULTS:Four themes represent the findings. These are: 1) compassion began in situations where students were lost, confused, frightened, and discouraged; 2) emerged in a relationship focused on being recognized, valued, and understood; 3) developed with the other taking charge, listening carefully, remaining patient, and maintaining presence; and 4) ended with feelings of success, comfort, and belonging.CONCLUSION:The findings offer a description of compassion from the students' point of view. An approach for teaching compassion based on the study findings is proposed.

Despite physical, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse from their partner, many women remain in an abusive relationship, often proclaiming to love the one who is hurting them. Nineteen females who had experienced intimate partner violence were interviewed and asked to share their experiences and describe their meaning of love. An analysis of the transcripts was done using qualitative content analysis. With this approach, the contents of the verbal data were summarized and arranged in three major categories: (1) What love is not; (2) Attributes of a loving relationship; and (3) Attachment to the relationship. The findings demonstrate a woman's clear recognition of being in an abusive relationship, yearning to be truly loved, but often finding herself unable to detach from the relationship.

The death of a child can result in complicated grief. Thirty-one adults, 60 years of age or older, who lost an adult child, participated in a qualitative study using a focus group format that allowed them to discuss their experience. A hermeneutical approach was used to develop an overall thematic description of what it meant to an older person to lose an adult child. Four major themes emerged: losses, limited influence/decision making power, regrets, and decreased quality of life. Suggested interventions to prevent complicated grief in elders who experienced the death of an adult child include attentive listening, storytelling, and the use of metaphors.

Using existential-phenomenological interview procedures, two women who killed their husbands during an altercation were asked to share their experiences. Analysis of individual transcripts was done within the context of a hermeneutical approach. Their stories are divided into three distant phases of their life: (1) choosing to fight back in order to live, (2) dealing with the legal system, and (3) the emotional aftermath. Hopefully, these women's stories will help healthcare providers become more diligent in assessing for intimate partner violence, more cognizant of the emotional needs of women who have killed their intimate partners, and more understanding when women continue to proclaim their love for their abusive partner.

The perceptions of patients and their family members about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are crucial to understanding the meaning attached to having ECT and the impact it has on quality of life. Thus, in this qualitative study, patients and their family members described their perceptions of having electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The experience occurred in two distinct periods in the patient's life: making the decision to have ECT and the physical and emotional aftermath of treatment. One of the most important themes in the study was a need for patients and families to be better informed about the risks of ECT.

Reports an error in Self-deception among men who are mandated to attend a batterer intervention by Marilyn E. Smith (Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 2007[Oct], Vol 43[4], 193-203). The co-author's name was not included. Elizabeth J. Randall, PhD is the co-author for this article. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2007-14822-005.) Topic--Intimate partner violence continues to be a confounding national health problem, especially for women and children. Certified batterers' intervention programs are one means currently being used to combat intimate partner violence. Method--Existential phenomenology was utilized in this qualitative study to gain an understanding of the perceptions of the perpetrator prior to beginning a batterer intervention program. Findings--The batterer's experience is divided into two major themes: lack of justification of behaviors toward him and minimization and justification of his behaviors toward the victim and others. Conclusions--It is hoped that obtaining this understanding will encourage program personnel working in the area of batterers' intervention programs to include more emotional skills training within such programs, thus improving the quality of life for victims, perpetrators, and their families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

TOPIC Intimate partner violence continues to be a confounding national health problem, especially for women and children. Certified batterers' intervention programs are one means currently being used to combat intimate partner violence. METHOD Existential phenomenology was utilized in this qualitative study to gain an understanding of the perceptions of the perpetrator prior to beginning a batterer intervention program. FINDINGS The batterer's experience is divided into two major themes: lack of justification of behaviors toward him and minimization and justification of his behaviors toward the victim and others. CONCLUSIONS It is hoped that obtaining this understanding will encourage program personnel working in the area of batterers' intervention programs to include more emotional skills training within such programs, thus improving the quality of life for victims, perpetrators, and their families.

In this existential-phenomenological investigation, women whose partners were mandated to attend a batterers' intervention program (BIP) were interviewed about their experiences before their partner attended his first class. The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of the woman's expectations of the BIP in the aftermath of her experience of abuse and her reasons for maintaining the relationship. Women described their experience as one of living in a dangerous environment that keeps them nervous, confused, fearful, and feeling bad about themselves, but yet hopeful that the abuse will stop now that their partner is being sent to treatment. BIP was, in fact, the "last hope," an optimism unsupported by current research data.

In this existential-phenomenological investigation five men were interviewed about their experience of being a male significant other (MSO) of a female sexual assault victim. The purpose of the study was to understand the MSO's meaning of the rape and the emotional impact it had on him. The thematic structure of a man's response to having a female significant other sexually assaulted depicts an impact on his emotional life in four significant areas: (1) his immediate painful thoughts and feelings, (2) his relationship with the victim, (3) his world view on male attitudes, and (4) the long-term effects of the trauma. It is an experience that has left him feeling angry, helpless, and guilty, prompted him to self-inspection, and thus changed him forever.

In this existential-phenomenological investigation 15 women were interviewed about their experience of recovering from intimate partner violence (IPV). The purpose of the study was to examine the healing process from IPV from the perspective of those who have experienced it. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using a hermeneutic process. The thematic structure of a woman's journey is comprised of three distinct but connected phases of her life: the abusive past, the struggles of freeing herself physically and emotionally from the abuse/past, and finally the healing/growth that occurs as a woman releases herself from the bitterness and anger of the past. Most of the women in this study were able to experience the peace and healing that occurs with recovery, although a few remained emotionally stuck and unable to free themselves from the past. Thus, there are two stories that are told in this study. The first story is about a journey of recovery. Sadly, the second story is about nonrecovery.

In this existential-phenomenological investigation seven women were interviewed about their experiences of recovering from rape trauma. The purpose of the study was to discover the meaning of recovery from the perception of the victim, how recovery is experienced, and what contributed to the growth and recovery of the woman who has been raped. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using a hermeneutic process. The thematic structure of a woman's recovery from rape comprises three main themes: reaching out, reframing the rape, and redefining the self. These findings are important to professionals working with women who have been raped because it is the raped woman, rather than the clinician, who is able to define what constitutes recovery.

The purpose of this investigation was to describe the adult well sibling's experience of having grown up with a sibling who has insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). Using existential-phenomenological interview procedures, 14 participants were asked what it was like to have a chronically ill sibling. Analysis of participants' experiences was done using a hermeneutical approach. The thematic description of the experience of having lived with a chronically ill sibling with IDDM was divided into two interdependent and interrelated periods, the past and the present. The metaphor of a protective shield woven around the diabetic sibling by his or her family was taken from the words of a participant, and is seen by participants as occurring in the past and the present. The themes of the past provide the background for the themes of the present. Many of the themes of the past are moved forward to the present, but, because of the passage of time, are described differently by participants. Results of this study reinforce the fact that the stressors of chronic illness affect all family members, including the well siblings. It is imperative that nurses give care to the family, not just the designated patient. Nurses must be prepared to provide counseling, education, and anticipatory guidance to adults who have a sibling with a chronic illness.