Nurses’ emotional challenges in providing home care in Norway

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine registered nurses’ experiences of emotional challenges when providing home care for older patients. Previous studies have shown that home care nurses encounter increased responsibilities and emotional challenges when caring for older patients with multiple diagnoses. However, to date, what these emotional challenges consist of has been insufficiently investigated. A qualitative study, inspired by a phenomenological approach, was conducted. Eleven registered nurses employed in home care services in Norway were selected for semi-structured interviews, and three main challenges were identified using meaning condensation: time pressure, feeling provoked by the behaviour of a patient and feeling overpowered by emotions when a patient was in the terminal stage of his or her illness. Our conclusion is that when nurses are confronted with a patient’s vulnerability, they are also confronted with their own vulnerability.