Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a public health challenge because it jeopardizes the health of women and girls. FGM is condemned worldwide but, it is still practiced in the Odi community of Nigeria. The literature on women's lived experiences of FGM in other parts of the world was reviewed, but knowledge is lacking on the lived experiences of women from Odi community in Nigeria. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore their lived experiences, their perspectives on the current legislation for the prevention of FGM, and their perspectives on the cultural myths surrounding the practice. The phenomenological lens was used both as the study design and as the theoretical framework which states that humans know the world through their experiences. This theory guided the study on how the women of Odi community attached meaning to their experiences with FGM. Nine women, 18 and older, who had experienced FGM, were recruited through a snowball technique. Data were collected through semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews. Colaizzi's method was used for data analysis. Five major themes emerged: (a) FGM is a traditional rite, (b) challenges of FGM, (c) FGM cultural myth instills fear, (d) ignorance of legislation against FGM, and (e) needs government intervention to halt FGM. Participants recommended the enforcement of the legislation against FGM. The findings of this study will be communicated to stakeholders of FGM in the Odi community and in public health journals to serve as a basis for further research. The implication for social change is that maternal and child health will be improved.

With the advances in technology, there has been a steady and unstoppable expansion in online education, and as technology has kept changing, so has online education. These changes have impacted the experiences of the faculty members, which has led to a growing interest in examining what online faculty members’ lived experiences are. To have a better understanding of the prior status of the research conducted on online education, this dissertation included a systematic literature review between the years 2000-2018. The systematic review of the literature demonstrated that the major issues examined in prior studies included online faculty motivation, inhibitors, online faculty course design, implementation practices and roles, and online faculty satisfaction. Researchers have attempted to explain online faculty motivation, satisfaction, workload and role changes mostly through quantitative studies. Some researchers also implemented mixed methods and qualitative research to examine online faculty members’ perceptions of online education, best practices in designing and implementing online courses. These studies were limited in terms of their data relying mostly on context bounded self-reports. Moreover, as technology evolves swiftly, so does the online education due to the changing affordances of available technology. Therefore, this study aims to describe the lived experiences of the online faculty members through a qualitative research design, namely multiple descriptive case study, collecting data from two rounds of interviews and an online course observation. In addition, a review of the literature demonstrated that only one study attempted to examine online faculty experiences through the lens of a distance learning theory (Bair & Bair, 2011). Therefore, there was also a need to analyze and explain the experiences of the online faculty members through a distance learning theory. While depicting the lived experiences of the online faculty members, the current study aims to portray a detailed picture of the online faculty members’ course design and implementation strategies in relation to Michael Moore’s (1989) Three Types of Interaction Framework. The findings of the study demonstrate that online faculty motivation and satisfaction are dynamic. As the initial experiences of the faculty members wear out, the factors impacting their motivation and satisfaction change. The factors impacting faculty members’ motivation and satisfaction also vary from one faculty member to another faculty member. In addition, the experiences of the faculty members in designing and implementing online courses change as they become more experienced. The faculty members implement several strategies to facilitate student interaction with other students, the course content and the course instructor while they design and teach online courses. They also improve their strategies as they face challenges while they teach online. The findings of the study in relation to Michael Moore’s (1989) Three Types of Interaction Framework demonstrate that while the faculty members design their online courses, they pay utmost attention to having a consistent structure of their online courses in order to avoid student disorientation. They use a variety of content materials to cater for the needs of their online students, and design several activities to enhance student interaction with the content. They prefer to chunk the content into modules, in which they design a consistent pattern of course activities. The faculty members while designing the course activities also pay attention to creating opportunities for learner-learner interaction such as discussion boards and group projects. The study also show that faculty design their online courses in ways help them communicate with the students, for instance, they design home pages, orientation modules, or provide several alternative ways of contact. The study also indicates that while the faculty teach online courses, they use different strategies to facilitate student interaction with their classmates, the course content and the instructor. The strategies implemented to enhance learner-learner interaction include mostly discussion forums. The faculty members paid attention to provide variety of assignments for discussions such as reflecting on peer’s work, discussing case studies as well as checking if the students read the assigned materials. Due to student complaints about the challenges faced while completing group projects, they were rarely used. Some faculty chose to drop the group projects completely whereas some faculty used them sparingly. As for the student interaction with the content, most faculty members prefer to roll out the whole course upfront and allow students to see the whole course, be able to make connections and see the expected outcomes. Some faculty, however, also prefer releasing the course content module by module and using pre-requisites to control student interaction with the content as well as their peers. As for student interaction with the course instructor, the faculty members implement various strategies such as on-campus course orientations, announcements, e-mails, discussion boards, one-on-one synchronous sessions and phone calls to communicate with their students. Finally, the study presents a more detailed picture of the lived experiences of the online faculty through the lens of distance learning theoretical framework. It helps to better understand how the online faculty design and facilitate student interaction with their classmates, course content as well as the course instructor. It provides several pedagogical and empirical implications in line with and addition to prior research.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a experiência vivida por mulheres idosas. Justifica-se na medida em que há fortes indícios de que o envelhecimento da população feminina seja subjetivamente vivenciado como condição na qual se articulam, interseccionalmente, opressões de gênero, idade e classe social. Organiza-se metodologicamente como pesquisa qualitativa empírica com o método psicanalítico e caracteriza-se como estudo psicossocial, procurando investigar os modos pelos quais processos emocionais e sociais implicam-se mutuamente. Centra-se no estudo de casos selecionados dentre aqueles atendidos durante doze anos de trabalho em instituição de saúde pública especializada na atenção à saúde de idosos. Considerado à luz do método psicanalítico, esse material possibilitou a produção interpretativa de quatro campos de sentido afetivo-emocional, denominados: Sofrendo a Decadência do Corpo, Sofrendo por Ser Mulher, Sofrendo pela Solidão e Sofrendo na Cidade Grande. O quadro geral permite a proposição de que, apresentando-se fortemente marcada por sentimentos de desamparo, humilhação e injustiça, a experiência vivida pelas participantes deve ser compreendida não apenas como intimamente associada às mudanças corporais, características do processo de envelhecimento, mas também como sofrimento subjetivo socialmente determinado, demandando uma clínica compreensiva, que seja sensível ao padecimento e atenta às condições concretas de vida / The present study aims to investigate the lived experience of elderly women. It is justified in that there is strong evidence that the aging of the female population is subjectively experienced as a condition in which gender, age and social class are intersectionally articulated. It is organized methodologically as an empirical qualitative research with the psychoanalytical method and is characterized as a psychosocial study, seeking to investigate the ways in which emotional and social processes demand to be understood as always implicated in each other. It focuses on the study of selected cases among those attended during twelve years of work in a public health institution specializing in the health care of the elderly. Considered in the light of the psychoanalytical method, this material permit the interpretative production of four affective-emotional meaning field named: \"Suffering the Decay of the Body\", \"Suffering for Being a Woman\", \"Suffering for Solitude\" and \"Suffering in the Big City\". The general framework allows the proposition that being strongly marked by feelings of helplessness, humiliation and injustice, the participants\' emotional experience must be understood not only as closely associated with the body changes that characterize the aging process, but also as socially determined subjective suffering, demanding a comprehensive clinic that is sensitive to suffering and attentive to the concrete conditions of life

Hearing loss is a silent, often overlooked condition which deprives people of the most basic of human needs--the ability to communicate effectively. The notion that there is a dearth of understanding by health care professionals when caring for persons with hearing loss has been acknowledged. This research study aimed to describe the meaning of what it is like to live with a different sense of hearing for seven Canadian participants. The process of inquiry was guided by Parses human becoming theory for nursing (1981, 1987, 1992, 1998). The Giorgi (1970, 1971, 1975, 1985, 1989, 1992) modification of the phenomenological method was used for analysis-synthesis. Five women and two men employed and ranging between 25 and 70 years shared their lived experiences with the researcher via email correspondence. Confidentiality and anonymity were assured. Participants were asked to write about what it is like for them to live with a different sense of hearing. The central finding of this study was: Living with a different sense of hearing is experiencing the joy-sorrow of hearing-not hearing unfolding through discovering gained-lost communication surfacing all-at-once with diminished-enhanced feelings of self while choosing the rhythm of revealing-concealing amid potential regard-disregard of others. The findings of this research build on Parses (1981, 1998) theory of human becoming and may enhance nurses understanding of what it is like to live with hearing loss, which may in turn alter the way nurses structure practice with persons who live with a different sense of hearing, making a difference in their quality of life.

The New Zealand education system has undergone some two decades of substantial reform. There can be little doubt that this has brought significant change to the nature of what is expected of people occupying positions of leadership in schools and educational institutions (Ball, 2007; Bottery, 2004; Codd, 2005). Against this contextual backdrop, and in the researcher’s experience as a teacher and former holder of a position of leadership, there is an observable phenomenon of educational leaders stepping aside from position and yet continuing to work as teachers within the same workplace. Despite claims of a leadership ‘crisis’, and international acknowledgement of concern over the retention of educational leaders (Brooking, 2007; Brundrett & Rhodes, 2006; Fullan, 2005), the human experience of this phenomenon appears unrepresented in current research literature. The present study has sought to capture this experience through addressing the central research question “What is the lived experience of the voluntary relinquishing of the position of leader, yet choosing to remain within the same educational workplace?” In order to gather rich qualitative data, a descriptive multiple case study design was employed. In-depth unstructured interviews were carried out with eight educational leaders who had relinquished position within the contexts of New Zealand State Secondary Schools and Private Training Establishments, and chosen to continue working in these same contexts. The subsequent analysis drew on the tradition of hermeneutic interpretation (van Manen, 1990) to arrive at interpretations of the uniqueness of individual experiences, and offer understandings of the shared meanings of the experience in the form of essential themes. The key findings which emerged in this study were those of a sense of the ‘a-lone-ness’ of leadership, the ‘ready-suddenness’ of the decision to step aside, a seeking of ‘balance’ in the relinquishing of position, a powerful sense of ‘re-turning’ to the call of teaching, and varying degrees of ‘ease’ and ‘dis-ease’ in the experience of ‘letting go and holding on’ following positional relinquishment. These findings serve to extend aspects of those of earlier leadership and role exit studies, and offer previously undocumented understandings. Thus, a major contribution of this study is in the bringing-to-voice of the stories of those who step aside from leadership position yet remain in the workplace, and in the opening of avenues for further research.

This thesis explores the lived experience of those with Bipolar Disorder type I or type II condition. The aim is to delineate how individuals cope following the diagnosis of this chronic, recurrent mental illness. Twenty participants were interviewed in depth, producing 18 hours of recordings and 480 pages of transcript. Narrative data were thematically analysed to reveal themes common to the process of adaptation. The exploratory framework identified key elements of the lived experience of bipolar disorder, including: the phenomenology of highs and lows, the role of anxiety in triggering episodes, reactions to diagnosis, and issues with prescribed medications. Analyses highlighted how difficult it is for individuals to reconcile themselves to the symptoms and consequences of the illness, and also illustrated the extent of subjective distress and reduced quality of life incurred. The psychosocial burden, particularly the difficulties developing a sense of authenticity and coherent identity, and having to adjust life goals, were examined in detail. Negative coping behaviours, specifically the use of alcohol and drugs, as well as the influence of shame and guilt on peoples??? coping repertoires were also explored. Finally, the importance of psychosocial interventions, collaborative health care strategies and necessity for long-term, follow-up care were emphasised.

<p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva brännskadade personers upplevelser av livet efter en brännskada. <strong>Bakgrund:</strong> En brännskada är ett trauma för både kropp och själ och ett stort lidande för den drabbade. Fysiska förändringar och psykologisk kris gör vägen tillbaka svår. Genom medicinskt kunnande och genom att vara ett medmänskligt stöd har sjuksköterskan en viktig roll under både den fysiska och psykiska läkningsprocessen. <strong>Metod: </strong>Studien är en allmän litteraturstudie baserad på fem kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar samt en självbiografi, publicerade mellan år 2003-2008. Analysen innebar att meningsbärande enheter togs ut och sammanfördes till tre huvudkategorier med tillhörande underkategorier. <strong>Resultat:</strong> De brännskadade upplevde att livet efter brännskadan innebar stort lidande och gjorde att de inte längre kunde vara självständiga. De upplevde bristande tillit till sin egen kropp vilket ledde till ett försämrat självförtroende. För att kunna gå vidare i livet var det viktigt att finna vägar för att acceptera och hantera det som hänt. Efter hand kunde livet ses positivt och värderas högre. Flera olika faktorer hade stor betydelse för att de skulle kunna känna trygghet i sitt förändrade liv. <strong>Slutsats: </strong>För att sjuksköterskan ska finnas där som stöd för den brännskadade behövs djupare kunskap inom området, vilket gör att ytterligare forskning är betydelsefull. Kunskapen skulle kunna spridas vidare genom att brännskadade föreläser om sina upplevelser och att de som är insatta i ämnet handleder personal inom hälso- och sjukvård utifrån casemetodik.</p> / <p><strong>Aim:</strong> The purpose was to describe how people with burn injuries experience their life after a burn injury. <strong>Background:</strong> A burn injury is a trauma for both body and soul and a big suffering for the person who is affected. Physical changes and psychological crisis makes it hard to recover. By medical knowledge and through human support nurses have an important role during the physical and psychological healing process. <strong>Method:</strong> This study is a literature overview, based on five qualitative scientific articles and one biography, published between the years 2003-2008. In the analysis meaning units were identified and brought together into main categories and sub categories. <strong>Result:</strong> People with burn injuries experiences that life after the injuries meant a great deal of suffering as well as a loss of independence. They experienced lacking trust in their own body, which lead to impaired self-confidence. To be able to move on in life, they had to find ways to accept and deal with what had happened. Several different factors were of importance to make them feel safety in their changed life. <strong>Conclusions: </strong>For the nurse to be able to be there for people with burn injuries, more knowledge of the subject is needed, which makes further research important. The knowledge could spread by the burn injured holding lectures about his or hers experiences, and by the well-informed tutoring health care staff and students using case methodology.</p>

<p> </p><p><strong>Bakgrund</strong>: Vårdpersonal möter i arbetet patienter som upplever rädsla. Inom omvårdnad är förståelse för människors upplevelser och erfarenheter central. Genom att försöka förstå fenomen som påverkar människans livsvärld gynnas relationen mellan vårdtagare och sjuksköterska. <strong>Syfte</strong>: Syftet var att beskriva fenomenet rädsla ur ett livsvärldsperspektiv. <strong>Metod</strong>: Studien baserades på 74 berättelser om rädsla skrivna av sjuksköterskestudenter. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes. <strong>Resultat</strong>: Situationer av ovisshet, maktlöshet eller hot utlöste rädsla. Under rädsleupplevelsen gjorde den tysta kroppen sig påmind, kroppen upplevdes okontrollerbar, informanterna blev tillfälligt förvirrade och fick förändrad verklighetsuppfattning. Kamp- och flyktbeteende och upplevelser av att rädslan födde nya känslor beskrevs också. När rädslan släppte tystnade kroppen, situationen upplevdes overklig och ibland genant och händelsen lämnade spår. <strong>Diskussion</strong>: Eftersom människor riktar medvetandet olika är det individuellt vad människor blir rädda för. Rädslan finns i levd kropp och påverkar samt påverkas av levd tid. Att gå till sig själv och förstå sin egen rädsla underlättar för att känna igen och förstå upplevelsen av rädsla hos andra. <strong>Slutsats</strong>: Att förstå och kunna möta rädsla hos andra är centralt i omvårdnad liksom i alla människovårdande yrken. Då upplevelsen av rädsla är central är det viktigt att förhålla sig fördomsfri till vad som utlöser rädsla hos andra människor och undvika att värdera rädslan.</p><p> </p> / <p> </p><p><strong>Background</strong>: Nursing staff often meet with patients that experience fear. An understanding of humans„ lived experiences is central in nursing. Attempts to understand phenomena that influence daily life of humans might contribute to a positive interaction between patient and nurse. <strong>Purpose</strong>: The aim was to describe fear from a life-world perspective. <strong>Method</strong>: The study was based on 74 narratives about fear, written by nursing students and a qualitative content analysis was used. <strong>Results</strong>: Situations that led to uncertainty and powerlessness triggered fear. When experiencing fear the usually silent body became "loud", the body was felt as uncontrollable and the informants were temporally confused and had an altered perception of reality. The fear arouses more and new emotions and wishes to fight and flee. When the fear faded away, the body became silent, the informants perceived the situation unreal and embarrassing and felt that the experience left marks on their bodies and minds. <strong>Discussion</strong>: What frightens humans is individual as different people direct their consciousness differently. Fear exists in the lived body. It influences and is influenced by the lived time. Attempts to make one‟s own fear consciousness contribute to an ability to recognize and understand other‟s fear as well.<strong> Conclusion</strong>: To see and understand other‟s fear is central in nursing, as well as in other caring services. Since lived experience of fear is central it is important not to be prejudiced about what situations that trigger fear and to avoid judging other peoples fear.</p><p> </p>

The number of men and women suffering from alcohol dependency is increasing.Today there are shortcomings in knowledge about the lived experiences of being a woman or a man with alcohol dependency; knowledge which might be of importance for meeting these individual’s specific care needs. The overall aim of the study was to obtain a deeper understanding of women and men's experience of living with alcohol dependency and being professionally cared for. The qualitative investigation design was exploratory and founded in a life world perspective. Data were collected from fourteen women and fifteen men with alcohol dependency by means of open in-depth interviews and subjected to a phenomenological-hermeneutic analysis. It was found that living with alcohol dependency encompasses a complex but limited life situation in which both women and men strive for social acceptance and adjustment. Women turned out to live a more introverted life than men and presented false facades. Men turned out to live a life in action, risk taking and control. Professional caring was shown to mean availability and confirmation of needs. For men with alcohol dependency professional caring meant support and gentle guidance in their active struggle against their alcohol dependency. For women, professional caring meant having an active caregiver who cherished them and enabled them to rest. Professional caring reduced senses of shame in both women and men. It may be concluded that in order to offer care for men and women with alcohol dependency professional carers have to consider gender specific needs of support and guidance. In addition, in order to alleviate suffering, professional caregivers have to be accessible, supportive and directed toward the alcohol dependent women's and men’s everyday world.

Bakgrund: Vårdpersonal möter i arbetet patienter som upplever rädsla. Inom omvårdnad är förståelse för människors upplevelser och erfarenheter central. Genom att försöka förstå fenomen som påverkar människans livsvärld gynnas relationen mellan vårdtagare och sjuksköterska. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva fenomenet rädsla ur ett livsvärldsperspektiv. Metod: Studien baserades på 74 berättelser om rädsla skrivna av sjuksköterskestudenter. Kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes. Resultat: Situationer av ovisshet, maktlöshet eller hot utlöste rädsla. Under rädsleupplevelsen gjorde den tysta kroppen sig påmind, kroppen upplevdes okontrollerbar, informanterna blev tillfälligt förvirrade och fick förändrad verklighetsuppfattning. Kamp- och flyktbeteende och upplevelser av att rädslan födde nya känslor beskrevs också. När rädslan släppte tystnade kroppen, situationen upplevdes overklig och ibland genant och händelsen lämnade spår. Diskussion: Eftersom människor riktar medvetandet olika är det individuellt vad människor blir rädda för. Rädslan finns i levd kropp och påverkar samt påverkas av levd tid. Att gå till sig själv och förstå sin egen rädsla underlättar för att känna igen och förstå upplevelsen av rädsla hos andra. Slutsats: Att förstå och kunna möta rädsla hos andra är centralt i omvårdnad liksom i alla människovårdande yrken. Då upplevelsen av rädsla är central är det viktigt att förhålla sig fördomsfri till vad som utlöser rädsla hos andra människor och undvika att värdera rädslan. / Background: Nursing staff often meet with patients that experience fear. An understanding of humans„ lived experiences is central in nursing. Attempts to understand phenomena that influence daily life of humans might contribute to a positive interaction between patient and nurse. Purpose: The aim was to describe fear from a life-world perspective. Method: The study was based on 74 narratives about fear, written by nursing students and a qualitative content analysis was used. Results: Situations that led to uncertainty and powerlessness triggered fear. When experiencing fear the usually silent body became "loud", the body was felt as uncontrollable and the informants were temporally confused and had an altered perception of reality. The fear arouses more and new emotions and wishes to fight and flee. When the fear faded away, the body became silent, the informants perceived the situation unreal and embarrassing and felt that the experience left marks on their bodies and minds. Discussion: What frightens humans is individual as different people direct their consciousness differently. Fear exists in the lived body. It influences and is influenced by the lived time. Attempts to make one‟s own fear consciousness contribute to an ability to recognize and understand other‟s fear as well. Conclusion: To see and understand other‟s fear is central in nursing, as well as in other caring services. Since lived experience of fear is central it is important not to be prejudiced about what situations that trigger fear and to avoid judging other peoples fear.