The landscape of cancer care is evolving and as a result nursing care continues to develop and respond to the changing needs of oncology patients and their families. There is a paucity of qualitative research examining the experience of being an oncology nurse on an inpatient unit. Therefore, a qualitative study using an interpretive phenomenological approach has been undertaken to discover the lived experience of being an oncology nurse. In-depth tape recorded interviews has been conducted with six oncology nurses who worked on two adult inpatient oncology units. Van Manen’s (1990) interpretive phenomenological approach has been used to analyze the data by subjecting the transcripts to an analysis both line by line and as a whole. The overarching theme of the interviews is: Investing to Make a Difference. The themes that reflect this overarching theme are: Caring for the Whole Person, Being an Advocate, Walking a Fine Line, and Feeling Like You are Part of Something Good. Oncology nurses provide care for their patients through a holistic lens that further enhances how they come to know their patients. Over time, relationships with patients and families develop and these nurses share that balancing the emotional aspects of their work is key in being able to continue to invest in their work and in these relationships. Their investment is further evident as oncology nurses continuously update their knowledge, for example, of treatment regimes, medication protocols, and as they champion their patients wishes and needs. As nurses develop their own identities as oncology nurses, they in turn enhance the team with their emerging skill and knowledge. These research findings serve to acknowledge the meaning of oncology nurses’ work and inform the profession’s understanding of what it means to be an oncology nurse.

Rooted in a critical dialogue that endeavours to theorize experience in contrast to the colonial impetus, this dissertation explores the lived experience of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. As a result of this disposition, the purpose of this dissertation is to expose the dynamics associated with colonized experiences and empirically research the lived experience of thru-hikers from an ecophenomenological perspective. The subsequent approach views the activities of the lived human body as the process through which the world comes into being. Building on Merleau-Pontian phenomenology, ecophenomenology provides the foundation of the experiential self, and thus underlies the representation of the trail environment as a sensuous field of human activity where one is merged with one's socio-ecological surroundings. Explication of empirical materials from 27 participant interviews resulted in a wide range of thru-hiking experiences representing the operative essence of Appalachian Trail thru-hiking. The operative essence was identified across 4 broad dimensions: Perseity, Sojourning, Kinship, and Wild Imbrication. Each dimension comprised a dialectic which emerged from interview excerpts both congruent with and in contrast to wilderness ideology. Further exploration of wilderness ideals resulted in thru-hikers negotiating tensions related to ideological wilderness meanings and their own actual thru-hiking experiences. This negotiation allowed a broader conception of wilderness to be illustrated as a continuum of meaningful experiences. In addition, ecoliteracy emerged as an experientially driven learning process whereby thru-hikers negotiate alternative meanings of wilderness with ideological meanings. The implications for experiential and wilderness related research along with management concerns are discussed.

According to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada, there is approximately 1 in every 200 individuals who is living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Many of those living with IBD also need to have an ostomy. The literature on the effects IBD and an ostomy has on adolescents and young adults lacks consensus. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to try to understand the lived experiences of adolescents and young adults (N=6) living with IBD and an ostomy. Sociodemographic information was collected, and the participants were interviewed in person using a semi-structured interview guide. The work of van Manen (1990) was used as a guide for data collection, analysis and interpretation of this study. Analysis revealed the essence of the adolescents’ and young adults’ lived experience as being “Concealing and Revealing the Self”. Three themes communicate the essence of their lived experience: (a) Uneasy feelings, (b) “It’s hard…”, and (c) A renewed sense of self. The needs of the adolescents and young adults, along with their recommendations to health care providers, are addressed. The study findings inform nurses in the areas of practice, education and research. Practice recommendations include being cognizant that these individuals need holistic care that addresses their psychological, psychosocial and physical needs. This study forms the basis for future research to explore some of the themes in greater detail, as well as a recommendation for a longitudinal study. / February 2008

Rooted in a critical dialogue that endeavours to theorize experience in contrast to the colonial impetus, this dissertation explores the lived experience of Appalachian Trail thru-hikers. As a result of this disposition, the purpose of this dissertation is to expose the dynamics associated with colonized experiences and empirically research the lived experience of thru-hikers from an ecophenomenological perspective. The subsequent approach views the activities of the lived human body as the process through which the world comes into being. Building on Merleau-Pontian phenomenology, ecophenomenology provides the foundation of the experiential self, and thus underlies the representation of the trail environment as a sensuous field of human activity where one is merged with one's socio-ecological surroundings. Explication of empirical materials from 27 participant interviews resulted in a wide range of thru-hiking experiences representing the operative essence of Appalachian Trail thru-hiking. The operative essence was identified across 4 broad dimensions: Perseity, Sojourning, Kinship, and Wild Imbrication. Each dimension comprised a dialectic which emerged from interview excerpts both congruent with and in contrast to wilderness ideology. Further exploration of wilderness ideals resulted in thru-hikers negotiating tensions related to ideological wilderness meanings and their own actual thru-hiking experiences. This negotiation allowed a broader conception of wilderness to be illustrated as a continuum of meaningful experiences. In addition, ecoliteracy emerged as an experientially driven learning process whereby thru-hikers negotiate alternative meanings of wilderness with ideological meanings. The implications for experiential and wilderness related research along with management concerns are discussed.

Att befinna sig i ett terminalt skede i livet kan innebära en känsla av oro och ångest inför sjukdomen och döden. Möjligheten att då få tillbringa sin sista tid i hemmiljö med nära och kära kring sig genererar för många en trygghet. Syftet med denna uppsats är att belysa vuxna människors erfarenheter av att i livets slutskede vårdas av anhöriga i hemmiljö. Metoden som använts är systematisk litteraturstudie där aktuell forskning inom området sammanställts. Databaser som använts för sökningen var PsycINFO, Medline, Cinahl, Elin@kalmar och SweMed+. Artiklar som syftade till problemformuleringen kvalitetsgranskades och resultatet bygger på tio vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultatet visade att sociala relationer och stöd från familjen genererar livskvalitet och trygghet hos människan som vårdas i livets slutskede. Delaktighet i sin vård och känsla av att inte förlora kontrollen över sina symtom gjorde att människan kände hopp och att de klarade av situationen. Slutsatserna var att möjligheten att få bo kvar hemma ansågs mycket betydelsefullt. Sociala relationer bidrog till att människor hemma kände en lägre grad av symtom. Den sjuke uppskattade stödet från familjen men ville inte bli en börda för anhöriga. Information om stöd och en realistisk planering samt insikt i situationens allvar bidrog till att hon kände delaktighet och bättre kunde hantera situationen.

Syfte: Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva brännskadade personers upplevelser av livet efter en brännskada. Bakgrund: 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. Metod: 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. Resultat: 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. Slutsats: 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. / Aim: The purpose was to describe how people with burn injuries experience their life after a burn injury. Background: 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. Method: 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. Result: 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. Conclusions: 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.

Patienter som genomgått kirurgi på grund av övre gastrointestinal (GI) cancer drabbas oftast av olika postoperativa besvär som starkt påverkar patientens livssituation. Syftet: Att undersöka hur patienter som opererats för en misstänkt eller diagnostiserad övre GI-cancer upplever den tidiga postoperativa tiden i hemmet innan första återbesöket. Metod: Kvalitativ metod med tolkande fenomenologisk ansats. Tio patienter intervjuades och den transkriberade texten analyserades enligt Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Resultat: Fem överordnade teman framträdde: mat och ätande, kroppsfunktioner, återhämtning, stöd och oro inför framtiden. Informanterna upplevde att de hade en helt ny livssituation att anpassa sig till. Maten och ätandet var ett stort problem som de hade svårt att hantera, likaså var tröttheten dominerande. De flesta upplevde ett gott stöd från sina anhöriga men de saknade stöd från professionen. Informanterna uttalade önskemål om kontinuerlig kontakt med sjukvården som initieras av densamma. Konklusion: Patienter som opererats på grund av övre GI-cancer befinner sig i en mycket sårbar tid i livet och behovet av stöd är av största betydelse. Riktad information till både patient och anhöriga preoperativt, samt kontinuerlig och strukturerad uppföljning av kontaktsjuksköterska och dietist postoperativt behövs för att kunna förbättra livskvaliteten, öka välbefinnandet och samtidigt höja kvaliteten på vården för dessa patienter.

This thesis initiates from the empirical researches findings which indicate that cognition-action gap exists in knowledge sharing practice. In order to have a deep insight, the researcher conducts a phenomenological qualitative research to explore the context behind this phenomenon. We adopt phenomenological interview technique to explore the lived experience concerning knowledge sharing in knowledge management systems (KMS) called SCTNet. We interview forty-nine teachers who register as the members on SCTNet and are located in different cities in Taiwan. Research findings show that the meaning of knowledge that teachers perceive are¡G the techniques and lived experiences accumulated from the interactions with children¡¦s parents and children, teaching professions and designs, and the beliefs in teaching. The teachers perceive knowledge sharing as the transit power in transforming oneself from alone to belong to the teacher¡¦s professional community and helps oneself expands his/her experience from limited into broader. We find that teachers¡¦ interaction happened in five different fields in the school. These are the places of workshop, demo, gossiping, apprenticeship learning, and ¡§the space between you and me¡¨. In each field, there exist different phenomena of interactions. In the fields of workshop, demo, gossiping and apprenticeship learning, most of the interactions are perceived as a ¡§form of play¡¨, and only little lived experience is shared in these places. Most of lived experience sharing and learning happen in ¡§the space between you and me¡¨. Research findings indicate that the constrains frame these teachers in speaking out of their lived experience are¡Gthe norms of teacher society, busyness, and loneness. These teachers show their desires in looking for ¡§others¡¨ as the learning and sharing partners in SCTNet. Yet, they show different participation phenomena while they present themselves in the virtual space and these phenomena outline two forums for interaction in SCTNet. One of them is ¡§Smart¡¨ platform and another is ¡§Outside¡¨. On the ¡§Smart¡¨ platform, teachers perceive themselves as smart teachers and show strong group identity to this platform, share their lived experience actively, and always give support while partners need. They defense against outsiders while others criticize their platform. However, the members and their behaviors in sharing on ¡§Smart¡¨ platform are through the security check and guaranteed the sharings are safe. The phenomena in ¡§Outside¡¨ show that most of the participants keep quiet or with few interactions to hide themselves from the ¡¨others¡¨ on SCTNet. In this area, a lot of teaching materials are stored and used by the novices or the travelers on the virtual space. Sometimes, ¡§Outside¡¨ serves as the communication channel of the educational administration for transfering the documentations. Yet, with the administration intervention, participants are encouraged to submit or post some materials upon the ¡§quantity¡¨ request. This makes the SCTNet under the risk of becoming an information junkyard (McDermot 1994). Research findings also indicate the factors which serve as obstructs, exits, and projections that teachers tour around the physical and virtual space. At the end, several reflections are proposed from the perspectives of educational contexts, teachers, and information technologies for constructing the knowledge management systems.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder among females of childbearing age, affecting between 6-8% of the population. It is also the most common cause of infertility. Females with PCOS may have two or more of a constellation of symptoms that can potentially leave them at odds in terms of normative ideals of femininity. This study examines how feminist theory interrogates and analyzes knowledge about the body and PCOS, integrating the lived experiences of women to provide a deeper, more meaningful understanding of what it means to be a woman with PCOS.

Η παρούσα ερευνητική εργασία εστιάζει στο κοινωνικό φαινόμενο του σχολικού εκφοβισμού καθώς και στη διάσταση του ως ζήτημα που άπτεται των θεμελιωδών δικαιωμάτων του παιδιού, όπως προκύπτει από τις μορφές και τις συνέπειες αυτού. Σκοπός της ήταν η διερεύνηση των βιωμένων εμπειριών εκφοβισμού μεταξύ μαθητών που έχουν ζήσει οι εκπαιδευτικοί δευτεροβάθμιας εκπαίδευσης του Ν. Αχαΐας. Η μελέτη στηρίχθηκε σε μία ποιοτική προσέγγιση με χρήση της ημιδομημένης συνέντευξης ως ερευνητικής μεθόδου, μέσω της οποίας επιχειρήσαμε να ανακαλύψουμε τον τρόπο με τον οποίο οι ίδιοι οι εκπαιδευτικοί συγκροτούν τις αφηγήσεις τους για τα περιστατικά εκφοβισμού που έχουν βιώσει. Η ποιοτική ανάλυση των δεδομένων, που προέκυψαν από τις αφηγήσεις των εκπαιδευτικών, καταδεικνύει το γεγονός ότι αν και οι ομιλητές επιστρατεύουν τους κοινωνικοποιητικούς μηχανισμούς της οικογένειας, του σχολείου και της παρέας ως ταξινομητικά σχήματα οργάνωσης του φαινομένου, οι βιογραφίες τους αποτελούν τον πόρο από τον οποίο αντλούν για να οργανώσουν την αντιμετώπισή του. / The present work focuses on the social phenomenon of bullying and also on its aspect as a matter of fundamental rights of the child, as it appears from the forms and consequences. The aim of the research was to explore the lived experiences of bullying among students, who have proved the secondary school teachers of Achaia. The study was based on a qualitative approach using semi-structured interview as a research method, through which we attempted to investigate the way teachers compose their narratives through their stories about bullying they have experienced. The qualitative analysis of data that derived from the narratives of teachers shows that although the speakers employ their socialization mechanisms of family, school and peers as classifier organization schemes phenomenon, their biographies constitute the resource that derives from to organize the intervention at the bullying phenomenon.