The present study focuses on the caring of patients who have sexually abused children. To do research in a field that has been considered taboo has not been without problems. The conclusive factor for the decision to carry out the research was the fascinating and interesting paradox that, in spite of the caregivers having a mandate from the judicial system to do care for these patients, they do not understand how this care is to be given. The understanding of what caring for these patients can entail is based on the perspectives of the lifeworld of both the patients and the caregivers. The theoretical perspective in this dissertation is that of the caring sciences while the epistemological framework is phenomenology. Research data consist of qualitative interviews. The aim of the first study is to describe the patients’ suffering, and the aim of the second study is to describe the caregivers’ experiences of caring for these patients. The essential meaning of the suffering felt by the patients is described in terms of the patients’ acknowledgement and then betrayal of their yearning to be part of a close human fellowship. The meaning structure of “caring”, can be understood as being lost in an obscure and unknown landscape. It challenges the caregivers and occasionally arouses strongly unpleasant but also strongly threatening feelings. However when the caregivers gain clarity on how to care they are able to find their caring courage and hope, even for these patients. The findings thus show that caring for patients who themselves do not see any opportunity of taking a place among other adults is a great challenge. The study also shows that the support that is needed to be successful in caring for these patients is a caring culture that can permeate both patients and caregivers. These patients, whose criminal acts appear to be bizarre and strange, need to learn to be able to bear their suffering without losing their humanity. The philosophical intermediate chapter shows that it is the body image of the patients that prevents them from becoming whole, i.e. existing fully, by it playing the existential drama that leads to sexual abuse. It appears from this dissertation that in order for caring to be able to relieve the suffering felt by these patients, and thus prevent them from further abuse of children, then it is important as a caregiver to be able to allow the patients just to “be”. The research also shows that in order for caregivers to be able to understand what they receive from the patients they need support from both caring science and existential reflections. Such methods can help to clarify caring and to give possibilities for a freer and more creative thinking. Encountering and understanding different lifeworlds is necessary in order to give care based on a caring perspective. The patient group in the present study have been able to demonstrate this in a clearer way than has previously been done.

Det finns få vårdvetenskapliga studier av personer som lever med eller vårdas för olika former av förmakstakykardi. Det saknas även riktlinjer för sjuksköterskor hur de ska omhänderta patienter med förmakstakykardier i lika stor utsträckning som vid andra hjärtsjukdomar. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att beskriva innebörder att leva med och vårdas för förmakstakykardi. Studien har ett livsvärldsperspektiv och ett dialektiskt perspektiv på processen mellan vård och besvär. Data samlades in med kvalitativa intervjuer. Fyra män och tre kvinnor intervjuades. Datan analyserades med en fenomenologisk hermeneutisk metod enligt Lindseth och Norberg (2004). I resultatet belyses processen mellan vård och besvär av förmakstakykardi. Resultatet visar att patienter vars förmakstakykardi har gått över innan de kommer till sjukhus har svårt att få någon diagnos. Resultatet påvisar också att vården inte förser patienterna med den kunskap de behöver i sitt dagliga liv och att det är ett större problem för patienterna att takykardin återkommer än när den pågår. Om dessa aspekter inte tillgodoses så kan det uppstå ett vårdlidande. / There are few studies with a caring science perspective of people who lives or being cared for different forms of supraventricular tachycardia. There is also a lack in guidelines for nurses how to care for patients with supraventrikulär tachycardia in comparison with other heart conditions. The aim of this study is to describe meanings of living with and being under care for supraventricular tachycardia. The study has an lifeworld perspective and a dialectic perspective on the process between caring and inconvenience. Data was collected with qualitative interviews. Four men and three women where interviewed. The data was analyzed using an phenomenological hermeneutic method as described by Lindseth and Norberg (2004). The result enlightens the process between care and inconvenience of supraventricular tachycardia. The result shows that patients with a supraventricular tachycardia that ends before they reach the hospital have difficulties to be diagnosed. The result also points out that the given care dos not provide the patients with the knowledge they need in their daily life and it is a greater problem for the patients that the tachycardia returns then it is when its actually going on. Failing these aspects may inflict a suffering caused by care.

In Sweden we have the highest rate of nontraditional students among Europe. Coincidently, we also have the highest rates of drop outs among OECD. In this particular field, drop out from higher education, there is a need fore more qualitative studies that can support the "statistics". Studies about experiences of drop outs are significant for society, university and individual. The aim of this study is to describe and understand how nontraditional student experiences drop out from higher education. What do they tell regarding their meeting with the university? How is the drop out visible before the decision to quit? How can the way forward to the drop out be described? What does the university mean for them? The theoretical point of departure is the concept lifeworld and the method is phenomenological hermeneutic with narrative interviews with 5 students. The result points out that the meeting with the university implies a meeting with other individuals, and also a "meeting" within the student himself, by inner questioning and reflection. The students’ relationship to the studies is characterized by the experience of understanding. The dropouts are visible through different events. The decision per se has increased over time and the students have also grown personally by the decision. To understand or not understand is crucial for the experience of learning. The drop out can also be seen as a transition and a turning point. The drop out is an effort and takes place without professional staff, therefore needs to be discussed in public.

The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine parents’ and librarians’ views on censorship in children’s library. Similarities and differences between the opinion of librarians, and parents with children in the age of 0 to 12 years, have been examined. To analyse the result Jürgen Habermas’ theory of lifeworld and system has been used, together with research, mostly from USA, about censorship of children’s library. There is not much research available on censorship at children's libraries in Sweden, instead newspaper articles on controversial children's literature have been used in this paper to shed light upon the current Swedish views on censorship in children's libraries. Qualitative interviews with two librarians, working in the children’s library, and two parents, with children who visit the children's library regularly, were made. In summary, the research shows that there are actually not many differences in opinion of censorship in children’s library between the parents and librarians. A new question arises: why do we have a discussion in media about censorship of children’s library, when the respondents of this research think the controversial books should not be moved. And is it coincidental that all our respondents shared the same view on censorship of children's literature, or is it the common opinion among children's librarians and parents of younger children in Sweden?

Aim: The overall aim of the thesis was to describe the experiences of awake patients during surgery under regional anesthesia. In addition, the aim was to develop a model for intraoperative care that can support and enhance patients’ well-being during the intraoperative period.   Methods: Study I was a patient interview study guided by a reflective lifeworld approach. In study II a philosophical reflection of the findings from study I was carried out. In study III a hermeneutic approach inspired by Ricoeur and Gadamer was used in order to interpret video recorded material. In study IV a hermeneutic approach inspired by Gadamer was used to synthesize the findings in studies I-III transformed into an intraoperative caring model.  Overall main findings: The analysis shows that being awake during surgery can be compared with walking a tightrope because of ambiguous feelings. The proximity and presence of the nurse anesthetist (NA) anchors the patient in the present and strengthens the patient’s feeling of trust. The temporary disruption in the relationship between the body and the world due to regional anesthesia means that the patient’s being in the world is exposed to revolutionary experiences. Gaps between the patient’s experiences and the situation can be bridged over when the NA acts as the patient’s bodily extension and links the patient as a subject to the world in the intraoperative situation. From the patient’s perspective this calls for the NA’s proximity and genuine presence in the ‘intraoperative caring space’. When the NA’s performance of his/her professional duties clashes with the patient’s existential being in the intraoperative situation the need of present presence from the NA is crucial. Conclusions: The findings contribute to knowledge development about intraoperative care and raise awareness that care for the awake patient cannot be performed on formal routines that might disregard the uniqueness of each patient’s situation. The model can be used as a tool to encounter awake patients’ existential needs in the intraoperative situation and to further enlighten NAs about the possible impact of their proximity, interaction and communication behavior in the delivery of intraoperative nursing care.

To be sentenced to care in the forensic psychiatric services can be seen as one of the most comprehensive encroachments society can make on a person's life and being, as it entails a limitation of the individual's freedom but with no time limit. The aim of this dissertation is to describe caring in forensic psychiatry based on how it is experienced by those who perform the caring and by those are cared for in a maximum secure unit. A reflective lifeworld approach, based on phenomenological philosophy, has been applied. The data has been collected in interviews that have been analyzed by use of a meaning analysis searching for the essence of the phenomenon. The results of the research are presented in two empirical studies and a general structure based on the empirical findings. The dissertation also contains an excursus, a philosophical intermediate chapter containing further analysis of the results of the studies. The results show how the forensic psychiatric care is experienced as being non-caring by the patients with only small "pockets" of good care. Caring consists of corrective techniques that are unreflected and contradictory, where the conditions are determined by the caregivers and the ward culture. The correcting takes place through the modification of the patients' behaviour with the aim of the patients having to adapt themselves to the terms of the care provision. This care results in the patients trying, by use of different strategies, to adapt them-selves to the demands of the caregivers in order to gain privileges. At the same time the patients long to get away from the care system and are lacking real, meaningful and close relationships. To be the subject of care entails struggling against an approaching overwhelming sense of resignation and to care entails experiencing both power and powerlessness in performing the care. A destructive power struggle is being waged within forensic psychiatric care that suppresses the caring potential and true caring is thus elusive. The characteristics of forensic psychiatric care, based on the results of the research, are clarified in the dissertation's excursus. These include the corrective and disciplinary nature of forensic psychiatric care, its power and how this is materialized in care situations as well as the influence of tradition on current forensic psychiatric care in the light of the work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. The dissertation shows that if the caring potential is to be able to be developed and form a caring nucleus for forensic psychiatric care then education levels need to be further developed. A caring culture and caring environment is needed where true caring can gain a foothold. In order for this to become a possibility the current caring culture and environment must be clarified, questioned and examined. The prevalent fundamental ideas in forensic psychiatric care have to be "jeopardized" and challenged by new scientifically based ideas on what constitutes true caring in this context.

Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to acquire knowledge about whether tactile touch as a complementary method can (i) promote comfort and (ii) reduce stress reactions during care in an intensive care unit (ICU) Method: In Paper I, five nurses with a touch therapist training were interviewed about their experiences of preparation before giving tactile touch in an ICU. To analyse the meaning of preparation as a phenomenon, Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological approach was used. In Paper II and III a randomised controlled trial was set up to investigate the effects of a five-day tactile touch intervention on patients’ oxytocin levels in arterial blood (II), on patients’ blood pressure, heart rate and blood glucose level, and on patients’ levels of anxiety, sedation and alertness (III). Forty-four patients were randomised to either an intervention group (n = 21) or a control group (n = 23). Data were analysed with non-parametric statistics. In Paper IV, six patients who had received the tactile touch intervention were interviewed to illuminate the experience of receiving tactile touch during intensive care. To gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and to illuminate the meaning, Ricoeur’s phenomenological hermeneutical method, developed by Lindseth and Norberg, was used. Findings: The nurses need four constituents (inner balance, unconditional respect for the patients’ integrity, a relationship with the patient characterized by reciprocal trust and a supportive environment) to be prepared and go through the transition from nurse to touch therapist (I). In the intervention study, no significant differences were shown for oxytocin levels between intervention and control group over time or within each day (II). There were significantly lower levels of anxiety for patients in the intervention group. There were no significant differences between the intervention and control groups for blood pressure, heart rate, the use of drugs, levels of sedation or blood glucose levels (III). The significance of receiving tactile touch during intensive care was described as the creation of an imagined room along with the touch therapist. In this imagined room, the patients enjoyed tactile touch and gained hope for the future (IV). Conclusion: Nurses needed internal and external balance to be prepared for providing tactile touch. Patients did not notice the surroundings as much as the nurses did. Patients enjoyed the tactile touch and experienced comfort. The impact on stress parameters were limited, except for levels of anxiety which declined significantly. The results gave some evidence for the benefit of tactile touch given to patients in intensive care.

Disability discrimination is an ongoing problem in Australian schools. This study analyses the tension that exists between the requirements of the disability discrimination legislation and the way that principals make decisions about the inclusion of students with disabilities in Queensland state schools. The findings from the study suggest that principals believe the disability discrimination legislation is relevant but it is not helpful in providing a framework for discrimination-free decision-making. Instead, the democratic governance processes of inclusion and collaboration are identified as essential elements of the school principal's decision-making process if inclusive school cultures are to thrive and if discrimination is to be reduced or eliminated. Habermas's critical theory of lifeworld and systems world provides the conceptual framework to analyse the complex lifeworld of the principal and the systemic requirements of the legislation. A lifeworld model of decision-making interactions within the inclusive school is proposed from the data collected in this study. Data were collected using a mixed methodology in which 120 principals responded to surveys about their perspectives on inclusion. This was followed by a series of in-depth interviews with six principals who described their schools as inclusive. Focus groups also provided group perspectives and verified the data collected from the surveys and interviews. Together, the quantitative data and the qualitative information complement each other to provide comprehensive perspectives from principals about inclusion and the law. Recommendations are made in the final chapters that propose a new legal paradigm for disability discrimination legislation so that the discordance between the systems world of the law and the lifeworld of the principal may be reduced. More specific policy and governance recommendations promote collaborative decision-making models to facilitate shared understandings about complex issues that relate to disability.

Background: Nurse practitioners are increasingly conducting consultations with patients on the same basis as medical doctors. However little is known about communication within nurse practitioner consultations. Research on communication in nurse practitioner consultations has identified nurse practitioners communicate with patients in a hybrid style, combining biomedical information with the discussion of subjective information from everyday life. Research has not fully explained why this hybrid style occurs in nurse practitioner consultations, nor determined its links to consultation duration, patient expectations, satisfaction, and enablement. This study was developed to address these gaps in research of communication in nurse practitioner consultations. Aim: This study aims to advance understanding of the discrete nature of the communication processes and social interactions occurring in the nurse practitioner consultation, including explicating the reasons for the occurrence of the particular communication processes and interaction styles observed in those consultations. Methods: The study was conducted in a nurse-led primary care clinic providing general practice care. Within a case study research approach mixed methods were utilised, combining structured analysis of video recorded observations of nurse practitioner consultations, questionnaire-based measures of patient expectations, satisfaction, and enablement, and interviews with some of the participants of the consultations. The sample for video recording comprised three nurse practitioners employed at the clinic, and 30 patients registered at the clinic. Questionnaire responses were provided by 71 patients, including 26 whose consultations had been video recorded. All three nurse practitioners participated in post-consultation individual interviews, and 11 patient / carers participated in post-consultation individual interviews. The video recorded consultations were analysed with the Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS), a method of quantified interactions frequency analysis. The questionnaire responses were analysed with descriptive statistics. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed using computerised qualitative data analysis with NVivo. Findings: A significant majority of observed social interaction in the consultations used patient-centred communication styles (p=0.005), with neither nurse practitioners nor patients or carers being significantly more verbally dominant. Nurse ii practitioners guided the sequence of consultation interaction phases, but patients and carers participated through asking questions and involvement in negotiations for care planning. Patient / carers were highly satisfied with their consultations, and significantly higher general satisfaction was noted when participants expected the nurse practitioners to be able to diagnose their presenting problem (p=0.043). Patient / carers expressed significantly higher levels of enablement than have been seen in previous studies of enablement with other types of clinicians (p=0.003). The mean consultation time length of 10.97 minutes is comparable with studies of general practitioners. The participants’ perceptions of nurse practitioner consultation communication processes and social interactions were represented through six themes; Consulting style of nurse practitioners; Nurse practitioner – GP comparisons; Lifeworld content or lifeworld style issues; Nurse practitioner role ambiguity; Creating the impression of time; and Expectations for safety netting. Contribution to knowledge: This study reveals nurse practitioner consultations comprise collaborative openness to peoples’ agendas and questions, expressions of everyday lifeworld experiences, expanded impressions of time, clear explanations augmented by integrated clinical reasoning, and participatory negotiations. These communicative features arise from a combination of social, ideological, and epistemological factors, prompting nurse practitioners to privilege how they interact with patients and carers, and to adopt a hybrid patient-centred style combining the nursing ideology of holism and their knowledge of biomedicine. This form of communication has been characterised as a stylistic exemplar for good consultation communication practice, which potentially facilitates shared decision-making. This research has resulted in new knowledge of the communication processes and social interactions used in nurse practitioner consultations, which demonstrates the importance of clinicians giving precedence to how they communicate and interact with patients so as to optimise their therapeutic outcomes without compromising the duration of consultations.

Bakgrund: Bipolär sjukdom är en kronisk psykiatrisk sjukdom som innefattar maniska, hypomaniska, och depressiva episoder. Fler kvinnor än män drabbas av sjukdomen. Med en vardag som i en känslomässig berg- och dalbana står patienterna inför flera utmaningar och självmordsrisken är hög. Okunskap om sjukdomen i samhället försvårar situationen för patienterna och tidigare forskning visar att närstående och sjuksköterskan är ett viktigt stöd som kan bidra med välbefinnande.   Syfte: För att få en ökad förståelse och inblick i kvinnornas liv var syftet med studien att belysa kvinnors upplevelse av att leva med bipolär sjukdom. Metod: För att besvara syftet användes en kvalitativ ansats som utgick från fem självbiografier. Självbiografierna analyserades med en kvalitativ manifest analysprocess. Resultat: Kvinnorna upplevde lidande i sin maktlöshet att hantera sjukdomen och hur sjukdomen påverkade livet. Kvinnorna upplevde att de inte fick någon förståelse från omgivningen för sina ipulsiva beslut i maniska och hypomaniska episoder eller sina isolerande och negativa perioder under depressionens episoder. Omgivningen har för lite kunskap om bipolär sjukdom.  Välbefinnande och energi hämtade kvinnorna genom närståendes stöd och de kände en trygghet i att ha den psykiatriska sjukvården att tillgå.  Slutsatser:Kvinnornas livsvärld med bipolär sjukdom är en ständig kamp för att minska lidande och uppnå välbefinnande. Det är främst vardagen som innebär den största utmaningen. För att bemötandet inom sjukvården ska optimeras för patienterna och att deras närstående på bästa möjliga sätt ska kunna finnas som stöd, krävs ökad och utvecklande kunskap för sjuksköterskan och omgivningen om sjukdomen.