Siv Bäck-Pettersson

The Caring Moment and the Green-Thumb Phenomenon among Swedish Nurses

People who have a special gift for gardening are sometimes described as having a green thumb. Likewise, some nurses have a green thumb for nursing. The aims of this study were to identify and describe the characteristics of green-thumb nurses and of caring situations. A descriptive-exploratory design was used, and 16 nurses, recruited by their superiors, participated in semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed that the green-thumb nurse is competent, compassionate, and courageous. The essence of the caring moment was identified as the green-thumb nurses ability to act on the spur of the moment, using her competence, compassion, and courage.

Catching My Wavelength: Perceptions of the Excellent Nurse:

The purpose of this article is to describe essential characteristics of an excellent nurse as perceived by women with breast cancer. A descriptive-exploratory research design was used, and 10 Danish women who had breast cancer surgery and treatment more than one year previously and who were still in secondary treatment but not hospitalized participated in semi-structured interviews. Four main concepts were identified: The excellent nurse was perceived as competent, compassionate, courageous, and concordant. Concordance was more important to the subjects than expected and was described as directly related to their perception of an excellent nurse and excellence in nursing

Patients' experiences of supportive conversation as long-term treatment in a Swedish psychiatric outpatient care context: a phenomenological study.

This study aims to describe patients’ experiences of supportive conversation as long-term treatment in a psychiatric outpatient context. A focus group interview was conducted with six female patients (aged 40–60 years). Five key constituents captured the essence of the general structure of supportive conversation: being treated as a responsible person, sensing intimate contact and togetherness, perceiving stability in the relationship, learning to manage daily living, and growing as a person. Supportive conversations have a positive influence on the patients state of mind and enhance self-confidence, thereby giving the inner strength to grow as a person.

A national study on collaboration in care planning for patients with complex needs

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to investigate inter-organisational collaboration on care planning for patients with complex care needs. Internationally, and in Sweden where the data for this study was collected, difficulties in care planning and transition of patients between the main health care providers, hospitals, municipal care, and primary care are well known. METHOD A survey of a total population of care managers in hospitals, municipalities, and primary care in Sweden was conducted. The study assessed accessibility, willingness, trustworthiness, and collaboration between health care providers. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics, bivariate, and multivariate regressions. RESULTS The results indicate that Swedish health care providers show strong self-awareness, but they describe each others ability to collaborate as weak. Primary care stands out, displaying the highest discrepancy between self-awareness and displayed accessibility, willingness, trustworthiness, and collaboration. CONCLUSION Inability to collaborate in patient care planning may be due to shortcomings in terms of trust between caregivers in the health care organisation at a national level. Organisations that experience difficulties in collaboration tend to defend themselves with arguments about their own excellence and insufficiency of others.

The Meaning of Being Touched Deeply Inside in a Nurse- Patient Encounter-Excellent Nurse Encounter-Excellent Nurse Experiences

This article explores the meaning to nurses of being touched deeply inside in a nurse-patient encounter. The manuscript reflects the caring perspectives of Pellegrino, Watson, Gadow, Carper, and Eriksson. Caring is viewed from a lifeworld perspective according to the phenomenological philosophy of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method was applied and data were collected through open interviews with five excellent nurses. The analysis resulted in a general structure of the phenomenon sbtudied including four key constituents: witnessing patient exposed to suffering and unfairness; sensing closeness, understanding, and involvement in patient/person; experiencing extreme difficulties as a challenge to act accordingly; and growing professionally. The results are consistent with literature about moral sensing, and caring values and attitudes. Being touched deeply inside appeared to be crucial in fostering professional growth and excellence in nursing.