Why does Phenomenology Matter?
Phenomenological research is important due to it's subjective approach, which captures the essence of lived experiences in individuals rather than concrete, black-and-white data from putting information into organized categories. Phenomenology allows research gaps and holes to be filled with substance (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016), which can help researchers learn and gain experience from understanding other's experiences (Connelly, 2015). By not confining data to strict criteria and allowing expansion of information through an unstructured interview, phenomenology can capture all of the important feelings and interpretations that go into a subject matter that are often left out of analytical studies.
Why is phenomenology important in nursing?
Phenomenology is important in nursing because it takes into account the views and insights of the people (patients and nurses) going through the healthcare system every day (Ellis, 2016). Through this, we are able to focus on "person-center health care", which has been the goal of health care for some time now (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016). Phenomenological nursing research allows us to develop better nursing interventions, patient outcomes, patient choice, better quality of life, and healing among other things (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016).
Phenomenology in nursing is captured in the article "Developing an Intervention to Equip Nurses for Acute Life Threatening Events (ALTEs) in Hospital: A Phenomenological Approach to Healthcare Research". Researchers used interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) and asked nurses (and doctors) how they experienced ALTEs in the pediatric setting. From this analysis, researchers came up with common themes that the nurses (and doctors) spoke about during their interview processes. One of these themes was "personhood of a patient and nurse", in which nurses and doctors talked about how during CPR it was hard to think of their pediatric patient, who they have grown close with or who they have to see in pain, as an object rather than a person. In nursing, it is important when coming up with interventions to view the patient as a person so that their care is optimal. However, in ALTEs there is this inner conflict of whether or not to treat a patient as a person with the risk of emotions getting in the way of interventions or treat them as if they were not human so that a healthcare professional can do their job. In this article, phenomenology really captured the inner conflicts healthcare professionals go through. For example, a doctor referred to a child as "it" and then took a deep breath and remembered "it" is a "he". The doctor turned the child into an object as a coping strategy and to dehumanize their patient, but they remembered that this patient is a human being. Phenomenology brings light to not just this inner conflict issue, but a few other issues that healthcare professionals, specifically nurses, go through in hospital settings. Phenomenology can really capture nursing by taking the reality of a real lived-experience by a nurse and turning it into something that others can evaluate and make better through new interventions. Phenomenology in nursing gets the researcher as close to experiencing the nurses day and their interpretations of their day without having researchers go through it themselves. (Hudson, Duncan, Pattison, & Shaw, 2015).
Why is phenomenology significant to the people in the world outside of nursing?
Just as with nursing, phenomenology is important to the world outside of nursing to help further understanding of people's views and interpretations of life. For example, there is an article that talked about a women's perspective on taking care of a family member with chronic illness and how this impacts them on a daily basis (Arpanantikul, 2018). If this study did not use the phenomenological approach, researchers would not necessarily know what issues these women faced daily. Since these women were able to open up and tell their stories, they were able to express their needs. This brought awareness to the assistance that these women can benefit from whether that be financial support, peer support, self-care or other services that would have not been identified if they had not been asked through phenomenological research. As a whole, this benefits society in that society is now aware of a caregivers needs and are apt to be more empathetic to caregivers and it may also help future and current caregivers to get the support they need in caring for a person with a chronic illness (Arpanantikul, 2018).
Why is phenomenology important in nursing?
Phenomenology is important in nursing because it takes into account the views and insights of the people (patients and nurses) going through the healthcare system every day (Ellis, 2016). Through this, we are able to focus on "person-center health care", which has been the goal of health care for some time now (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016). Phenomenological nursing research allows us to develop better nursing interventions, patient outcomes, patient choice, better quality of life, and healing among other things (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai, Knafl, & Cohen, 2016).
Phenomenology in nursing is captured in the article "Developing an Intervention to Equip Nurses for Acute Life Threatening Events (ALTEs) in Hospital: A Phenomenological Approach to Healthcare Research". Researchers used interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) and asked nurses (and doctors) how they experienced ALTEs in the pediatric setting. From this analysis, researchers came up with common themes that the nurses (and doctors) spoke about during their interview processes. One of these themes was "personhood of a patient and nurse", in which nurses and doctors talked about how during CPR it was hard to think of their pediatric patient, who they have grown close with or who they have to see in pain, as an object rather than a person. In nursing, it is important when coming up with interventions to view the patient as a person so that their care is optimal. However, in ALTEs there is this inner conflict of whether or not to treat a patient as a person with the risk of emotions getting in the way of interventions or treat them as if they were not human so that a healthcare professional can do their job. In this article, phenomenology really captured the inner conflicts healthcare professionals go through. For example, a doctor referred to a child as "it" and then took a deep breath and remembered "it" is a "he". The doctor turned the child into an object as a coping strategy and to dehumanize their patient, but they remembered that this patient is a human being. Phenomenology brings light to not just this inner conflict issue, but a few other issues that healthcare professionals, specifically nurses, go through in hospital settings. Phenomenology can really capture nursing by taking the reality of a real lived-experience by a nurse and turning it into something that others can evaluate and make better through new interventions. Phenomenology in nursing gets the researcher as close to experiencing the nurses day and their interpretations of their day without having researchers go through it themselves. (Hudson, Duncan, Pattison, & Shaw, 2015).
Why is phenomenology significant to the people in the world outside of nursing?
Just as with nursing, phenomenology is important to the world outside of nursing to help further understanding of people's views and interpretations of life. For example, there is an article that talked about a women's perspective on taking care of a family member with chronic illness and how this impacts them on a daily basis (Arpanantikul, 2018). If this study did not use the phenomenological approach, researchers would not necessarily know what issues these women faced daily. Since these women were able to open up and tell their stories, they were able to express their needs. This brought awareness to the assistance that these women can benefit from whether that be financial support, peer support, self-care or other services that would have not been identified if they had not been asked through phenomenological research. As a whole, this benefits society in that society is now aware of a caregivers needs and are apt to be more empathetic to caregivers and it may also help future and current caregivers to get the support they need in caring for a person with a chronic illness (Arpanantikul, 2018).